Thomas Farriner ( – 20 December 1670) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

baker and churchwarden in 17th century

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Allegedly, his bakery in

Pudding Lane Pudding Lane is a small street in London, widely known as the location of Thomas Farriner's bakery, where the Great Fire of London started in 1666. It runs between Eastcheap and Thames Street in the historic City of London, and intersects Monum ...

was the source point for the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...

on 2 September 1666. Great Fire of London Map

Career

Farriner joined the Baker's Company in 1637, and had his own shop by 1649. By the time of the Great Fire of London, Thomas Farriner was a well-known baker in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, who provided

bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

during the

Anglo-Dutch war The Anglo–Dutch Wars ( nl, Engels–Nederlandse Oorlogen) were a series of conflicts mainly fought between the Dutch Republic and England (later Great Britain) from mid-17th to late 18th century. The first three wars occurred in the second ...

Great Fire of London

In the early hours of 2 September 1666, Farriner was awakened by smoke coming under the door of his bedroom. Downstairs in his bakery in Pudding Lane, the fire had started and his house had caught fire. Farriner, with his daughter, managed to escape out of an upstairs window. His maid, however, wasn't so lucky. She refused to follow them out of the window because she was frightened of falling into the street. She eventually died in the fire and was the first victim of the Great Fire of London. Wenceslas Hollar - London before and after the fire (State 1)

Wenceslas Hollar - London before and after the fire (State 1)

After the fire, he rebuilt his business in Pudding Lane. He and his children signed the Bill falsely accusing Frenchman

Robert Hubert Robert Hubert (c. 1640 – 27 October 1666) was a watchmaker from Rouen, France, who was executed following his false confession of starting the Great Fire of London. Great Fire of London Between 2 and 6 September 1666, a major fire broke ou ...

of starting the fire. Farriner died in 1670, aged 54–55, slightly over four years after the Great Fire of London.

In popular culture

Thomas Farriner and his daughter are featured characters in the 2016 musical '' Bumblescratch''.

Career

Great Fire of London

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading