Early Life
Born at Geneva, he was elder son of Captain Frederick Franks, R.N., and of Frederica Anne, daughter of Sir John Saunders Sebright. His godfather was William Hyde Wollaston, a friend of his mother. His early years were spent mainly in Rome and Geneva. In September 1839 he went to Eton College, where he remained until 1843.
Franks then studied at Trinity College, Cambridge. As undergraduate he began his collection of brass rubbings, ultimately given to the Society of Antiquaries; was one of the founders of the Cambridge Architectural Society and an early member of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society; and was also one of the four student members of the Ray Club. On leaving Cambridge in 1849 Franks devoted his energies to the Royal Archæological Institute, then newly established, and laid the foundations of his knowledge of ancient and mediæval art, in arranging its collections for annual congresses. In 1850 he was secretary of the first exhibition of mediæval art held in the rooms of the Society of Arts.
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