Group From 1840 To 1968

J. K. Farnell & Co. Ltd.

Categories: Commerce

Manufacturing company. Founded in Notting Hill by John Kirby Farnell. Initially they produced fancy items such as tea cosies and pincushions. Farnell's daughter Agnes started making soft toys in 1870. The family moved to The Elms, Acton, in about 1898 and a new factory was built on part of the site, where the first teddy bear was produced in about 1908.

A Farnell 1921 "Alpha" bear was purchased in Harrods by Daphne Milne (wife of A. A.) for their son Christopher Robin, for his first birthday. This bear became the inspiration for Winnie-the-Pooh. The company ceased trading in the 1960s and the Farnell name was taken over by the Merrythought company in 1996.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
J. K. Farnell & Co. Ltd.

Commemorated ati

Winnie the Pooh

See J. K. Farnell for the story. Also the Telegraph article.

See other memorials in this area

Other Subjects

Pimlico District Heating Undertaking

The first district heating system built in the UK, with the UK's largest thermal store, the accumulator. It supplies heat to 3,256 homes, 50 business premises and three schools. Owned and managed b...

Group, Commerce, Engineering, Social Welfare

1 memorial

Bella Burge

Bella was married to boxer (and bank robber, see OldTimeMusicHall) Dick Burge. They took on the lease of the Surrey Chapel, an ex-chapel which had become a boxing ring in 1910. Renamed "The Ring"...

Person, Commerce, Sport / Games

1 memorial

Osram

Lamps and light bulb manufacturers. Founded by the merger of the lighting businesses of Auergesellschaft, Siemens & Halske and Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG). The name is derived f...

Group, Commerce, Germany

1 memorial

Waitrose

Founded by Wallace Waite, Arthur Rose and David Taylor as a small Acton grocers, Waite, Rose and Taylor. Taylor left the business and in 1908 the name Waitrose was adopted. It was taken over by Joh...

Group, Commerce

3 memorials

Helen Carte

Born Wigtown, Scotland as Susan Helen Couper Black. Later changed "Black" to "Lenoir", apparently the family's original name in 17th century France. Starting as secretary to Richard D'Oyly Carte s...

Person, Commerce, Music / songs, Theatre, Scotland

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Board of Ordnance / Royal Army Ordnance Corps

Responsible for the supply of armaments and munitions to the army and the navy, based in the Tower of London and also used Verbruggen's House at the Woolwich Arsenal until 1939. Disbanded in 1855 d...

Group, Armed Forces

4 memorials

Guy Penrose Gibson

Wing Commander. Born Simla, India. Leader of the Dambusters Raid for which he was awarded the V.C. Died when his plane crashed in the Netherlands returning from a bombing raid in Germany. Played by...

Person, Armed Forces, Aviation, India

1 memorial

Lord William Russell

Son of the 5th Earl Bedford. MP for Tavistock. Convicted of being part of the Rye House Plot to assassinate the Catholic King Charles II and beheaded, eventually, in Lincoln's Inn Fields. When th...

Person, Execution, Politics & Administration

1 memorial

Tyrannosaurus Rex / T.Rex

Formed by Marc Bolan and Steve Took as Tyrannosaurus Rex, the name was shortened to T.Rex round about the time success came with 'Ride a White Swan' in 1970/1. The band ended when Bolan was killed...

Group, Music / songs

5 memorials

William Shakespeare

Born and died in Stratford-upon-Avon. His birth date is usually given as the 23rd, the same date as his death, but all that is actually known is that he was baptised 3 days later, on the 26th. Even...

Person, Poetry, Seriously Famous, Theatre

46 memorials