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Thomas Farriner (sometimes written as Faynor or Farynor; c. 1615 – 20 December 1670) was an English baker and churchwarden in 17th century London. Allegedly, his bakery in Pudding Lane was the source point for the Great Fire of London on 2 September 1666.

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, who provided bread for the Royal Navy during the Anglo-Dutch war.

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, 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.

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

Andrew Buchan played Farriner in the 2014 TV series The Great Fire (TV series).

In the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan, Farriner is mentioned (written as "Faynor") as being a demigod son of Hephaestus. In the series, he was said to be the last child of Hephaestus to be able to create and control fire before Leo Valdez, one of the main protagonists in the series, and that his inability to control his gift was what started the great fire.

References

1. Terry Foreman,The Diary of Samuel Pepys (26 May 2012).
2. Danielle Evelyn, . Once upon a time in history (Friday, 17 October 2014).
3. Angus McKee, Great Fire of London anniversary: Wooden replica of city to burn 350 years on from disaster.
4. Terry Foreman,The Diary of Samuel Pepys.
5. Danielle Evelyn, The Farriner family of the Great Fire. Once upon a time in history (Friday, 17 October 2014).
6. "Bumblescratch gala concert – latest cast details". Musical Theatre Review. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
7. "The Great Fire (2014) - Kent Film Office". kentfilmoffice.co.uk. Kent Film Office. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
8. Riordan, Rick (2010). Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero. Hyperion Books. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-4231-1339-3.

Further reading

• Porter, Stephen (2017). "Farriner, Thomas (1615/16?–1670)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/76314. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (subscription or UK public library membership required)

• 1670 deaths
• 1610s births
• 17th-century births
• Great Fire of London