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.

Read More

Other Subjects

Roman warehouse

Roman warehouse

The picture source says "Near the Courage Brewery Site archaeologists found the complete wooden floor of a riverside warehouse. Nothing like this has been found anywhere else. The basement would ha...

Building, Commerce, Romans

1 memorial
Great Exhibition

Great Exhibition

From the V&A website: "The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations was held in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London. It was the first international exhibition of manufacture...

Event, Commerce, Museums / Libraries

13 memorials
Thomas Coutts

Thomas Coutts

Banker. Born Edinburgh. With his brother, James, came to London and worked in a bank founded in 1692 by John Campbell. James married Campbell's grand-daughter and through her inherited the bank. Th...

Person, Commerce, Scotland

2 memorials
Henry Lowenfeld

Henry Lowenfeld

Entrepreneur, theatrical impresario. Born as Henryk Loewenfeld in Poland, he emigrated to England in the early 1880s. Hee he produced spot-removing fluid which sold very well, then he opened a pate...

Person, Commerce, Food & Drink, France, Poland

1 memorial