William (“Bill”) Hills Farndale
20 January 1917 to 25 January 2009
FAR00840
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Commercial
draughtsman, gas engineer, coal effect fire inventor (Kohlangaz)
Headlines of Bill
Farndale’s life are in brown.
Dates are in red.
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blue.
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Loftus
1917
William Hills Farndale, son of
William James and Mabel Mary (nee Hills) Farndale (FAR00579), was born in
Loftus (census)
on 20 January 1917 (1939 Register).
The birth was registered in Guisborough District (GRO
Vol 9D Page 697).
Guisborough
1921
William James
Farndale, 39, costing clerk, The Skinningrove Iron Co Ltd, iron and steel
makers, Carling How
Mabel Mary
Farndale, 37
William Hills
Farndale, 4,
born Loftus
Redcar
1939
1939
Register – 35
Corporation Road, Redcar
William J Farndale,
born 30 January 1882, solicitor’s clerk
Mabel Farndale,
born 14 March 1884
William H
Farndale,
born 20 January 1917, single, constructional draughtsman, ARP Service
So William Hill
Farndale served in the Air Raid Patrol service during the Second World War.
Hamsterley, Near Bishop Auckland
1941
Bill joined the Local Defence Volunteers
from 29 April 1941 to 20 June 1947. He served with Durham Home Guard, 15th
Battalion.
They lived at Park Villa, Hamsterley, Near Bishop Auckland during WW2.
1943
William Hills Farndale, married
Florence Margery Lowson in 1943 and their marriage was registered in the first
quarter of 1943 at Durham South Western
District (GRO Vol 10a page 499). Florence
was born on 25 July 1918 and her father, George Henry Lowson (1885 to 1974),
was a weighman. Her mother was Margaret (nee Blackett) Lowson, born in 1895.
Middlesbrough
1950
Joan M Farndale (FAR01043)
was born in 1950.
1956
Anne C Farndale (FAR01079)
was born in 1956.
1957
Susan M Farndale (FAR01091)
was born in 1957.
Darlington
1975
Bill Farndale founded Kohlangaz with Doug Mitchell in 1975. They launched the
company from Parkgate, Darlington, next to a butchers shop, and their next unit
was the old Co-op funeral premises in Branksome Terrace. Between 1975 and 1982 staff numbers
increased from two, the founders, to 15 as Kohlangaz
continued to expand. The company built a new factory in Whessoe
Road in 1980 and, after further expansion, moved to the present unit on the
Yarm Road Industrial Estate in 1981.
Scorton
1982
Bill Farndale retired to Scorton.
1992
Darlington and Stockton
Times, 27 June 1992:
FOUNDER DISMAYED
AT COMPANY CLOSURE.
The glowing embers
and flickering flames which lit countless British living rooms now cast a dark
shadow over Kohlangaz, the coal effect gas fire company,
founded by two inventive engineers.
Mr Bill Farndale,
aged 75, from Scorton, and the late Mr Doug Mitchell, invented the
revolutionary fires after hearing about the huge log effect fires used in on
Hollywood film sets.
Despite the best
efforts of the British Coal advertising campaign, “Come home to a real fire”, Kohlangaz became one of the largest “fake” fire companies
in Europe, with a £5m turnover in 1988.
Mr Farndale, who
founded Kohlangaz with Mr. Mitchell in 1975, is
dismayed and surprised at the decision of parent company Glynwed
to lose the northern factories. “From a personal point of view, I am very sad
of course to see the company Bill and I founded in Darlington leaving town
after nearly 20 successful years. The closure decision came as a great surprise
and seems a pity, since they're leaving Darlington with 60 fewer jobs but
creating 40 more vacancies elsewhere,” he said.
Mr Farndale and
Mr. Mitchell were working as engineers for Power Gas Corporation in Stockton
when a friend mentioned the 1970s fashion for log effect fires in the United
States. “Film makers in Hollywood first used the log effect fires for safety
reasons and convenience during shooting,” said Mr Farndale. “These fires, which
were very large and baronial, started life on Hollywood sets, but as soon as
the public watched the films they became popular in homes.”
The men, both gas
and chemical engineers, quit their jobs to decide to work on a smaller, coal
effect fire, since coal was Britain’s indigenous fuel.
They discovered
that the American fires used a great deal of power when creating the visual
“flickering” effect, but not enough to actually heat the room. We decided to
base our fires on the traditional British fuel, coal, which in effect meant
lopping the corners off log effect fires to make a smaller unit,” he said.
Mr Bill Farndale, one of the firm’s
founders
Their fires
proved an overnight success, partly because of the British public's hankering
for nostalgia, said Mr Farndale. “We came along just at the right moment, when
people wanted to have a coal fire in their front rooms, whether real or not,”
he said.
Even the
“knocking” British coal adverts failed to halt the company’s rising fortunes.
“People couldn't tell the difference between real and fake fires. They just
liked the look of the flames because it records the good old days,” he said.
Between 1975 and
1982 staff numbers increased from two, the founders, to 15 as Kohlangaz continued to expand. The company built a new
factory in Whessoe Road in 1980 and, after further
expansion, moved to the present unit on the Yarm Road Industrial Estate in
1981.
Mr Farndale
retired in 1982 and when Mr. Mitchell died in 1983, the company suffered a
major cash flow problem, which resulted in Darlington businessman Mr Doug Eynon
becoming chairman.
Mr Farndale
chuckles as he admits to no longer having one of the coal and gas fires at his
home. “There are no gas mains in Scorton so we can't have a gas fire, but we
used to have the latest models when we lived in Darlington, I can assure you,”
he said.
1994
Florence Marjorie Farndale, born 25
July 1918, died in 1994 and her death was registered in April 1994 at Richmond (GRO District
6531 Register Number 13C entry 105).
1996
William Hills Farndale, married Myra Josepha
Gertrude White, the daughter of Sefton Harold E White (1875 to 1931) and Gladys
(nee Hole) White, in 1996 and their marriage was registered in Richmond District in February 1996 (GRO Volume 653 page 180 entry 4).
2009
William Hills Farndale, born 20
January 1917, died at Richmond on 25
January 2009 aged 92 (Death Index).
2012
Myra Farndale, born on 25 September
1918, died at the age of 94 on 29 July 2012 (Death
Index).