George Farndale

5 August 1853 to 1925

The Great Ayton 2 Line

FAR00398

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1853

George Farndale, son of Richard and Esther Farndale (nee Thwaite) (FAR00288) born on 5 August 1853 at Great Ayton (Great Ayton PR and Birth Certificate). George Farndale’s birth was registered in Stokesley District on 16 August 1853 (GRO Vol 9d, page 369).

1861

Census 1861 - Top Cliff Garth, Great Ayton;

Richard Farndale, head; married; age 35; ag lab; born Nunthorpe; (1826).

Esther Farndale, wife; married age 36; born Ormsby; (1825).

William Farndale, son; unmarried; age 9; born Ayton (ie born 1852) (FAR00389).

George Farndale, son; unmarried; age 7; born Ayton; (ie 1854) (FAR00398).

Joseph Farndale, son; unmarried; age 5; born Ayton; (ie 1856) (FAR00411).

Mary E Farndale, daughter; unmarried; age 2; born Ayton; (ie born 1859) (FAR00436).

1871

Census 1871 - Main Street, Great Ayton;

Richard Farndale, head; married; age 46; ag lab; born Nunthorpe; (1825).

Esther Farndale, wife; married; age 45; born Ormsby; (1826).

George Farndale, son; unmarried; age 16; millwright apprentice; born Ayton; (ie born 1855) (FAR00398)

Joseph Farndale, son; unmarried; age 15; shoemaker; born Ayton (ie born 1856) (FAR00411).

Mary E Farndale, daughter; unmarried; age 12; scholar; born Ayton; (ie born 1859) (FAR00436).

The mill race entering Grange Mill at the west end of the village.

1881

Census 1881 – Green Tree Inn, High Street, Yarm, Stokesley

George Farndale, 27 and single, a millwright, boarding with the Easton family

1891

Census 1891 - Great Ayton;

Richard Farndale, head; married; age 66; Joiner; born Nunthorpe (ie born 1826).

Esther Farndale, wife; married; age 66; born Ormsby; (ie born1826).

George Farndale, son; unmarried; age 37; millwright; born Ayton; (ie born 1855) (FAR00398)

Mary Elizabeth Farndale, daughter; unmarried; age 32; born Ayton (ie born 1859) (FAR00436).

William Farndale, grandson; married; age 4;;born Ayton; (ie born 1852) (FAR00621).

1901

Census 1901 – 40 Somerstown, Holderness Road, Kingston upon Hull

George Farndale, a mill engineer, 47, single, boarding with the Hind family

George Farndale was single in the 1901 census, and he was a widower by 1911.

1906

There is a George Farndale who marred Minnie Pollard or Mary Agnes Graham in 1906 at Burnley, Lancashire. This could have been him. (also a George Farndale who married Eliza Scorey or Beatrice Enwright in 1903, but this seems less likely).

1911

Census 1911 – The Old Jolly Farmers, Sawmills, Crayford, Kent

George Farndale, 58, born Great Ayton, a mechanic millwright, widower

1921

Census 1921 – Ipswich, Suffolk

Now available but not yet checked.

1925

George Farndale, died, age 71 at Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire in the second quarter of 1925 (DR). He was overcome by gas in a tragic accident.

Lancashire Evening Post, 24 April 1925: TRAGEDY BEHIND DRAWN BLIND. Owing to the blind remaining drawn at the house occupied by Mrs Burgess, Horneglow Street, Burton on Trent, yesterday, her son, living in another part of the town, was sent for and gained an entry, finding George farndale, 65, a lodger, dead on the bedroom floor and Mrs Burgess in bed unconscious and the room smelling strongly of gas. The jet had no fixed off position. Efforts at artificial respiration on Farndale were unsuccessful. Mrs Burgess was taken to the Infirmary. It is supposed that Mrs Burgess, overcome, called Farndale, who essayed to help her but was also overcome.

Leicester Daily Mercury, 24 April 1925: GAS TRAGEDY AT BURTON. MAN FOUND DEAD AND WOMAN UNCONSCIOUS. Discovery was made at Burgess on Trent, yesterday, at a house in Horneglow Street, occupied by Mrs Burton, a widow, aged 77 years. As the neighbours failed to see either her or her lodger about as usual, and as the blinds of the house had remained drawn throughout Wednesday, access was gained through a window yesterday when the lodger, George Farndale, 65, a millwright, was found dead on the floor while Mrs Burgess was unconscious in bed. The room was full of gas, and an investigation showed that the tap of the gas bracket, which was one of the type without a fixed “off” position, and therefore turned completely round, was on. The woman was removed to the Infirmary, where last night it was stated she was in a serious condition. Everything points to the occurrence being accidental, and it is surmised that Mrs Burgess called the assistance of her lodger, who overcome by the escaping gas, collapsed in the room.

Derby Daily Telegraph, 27 April 1925: GAS TRAGEDY. SECOND DEATH AT BURTON ON TRENT. Arising out of the shocking gas tragedy discovered at Burton on Trent on Thursday last, a second death has occurred, Mrs Sarah Burgess, aged 77, passing away in the local Infirmary on Saturday. The inquest on George Farndale, the other victim, had been adjourned in the hope that Mrs Burgess would be able to give evidence, and her death only deepens the mystery surrounding the affair. It will be remembered that as neither Mrs Burgess nor Farndale, her lodger, had been seen about by the neighbours on Wednesday, her son, who lives in another part of the town, was summoned, and an entrance was forced on Thursday. Going upstairs, Mr G L Burgess found his mother unconscious in bed, and Farndale lying dead face downwards on the floor. The gas was on was at an old fashioned and loose fitting, and with no definite “off” position, and although the door and window were closed there was no indication that they had been deliberately blocked up. The theory was advanced at the inquest that the occurrence was purely accidental, and it is surmised that the lodger was going to Mrs Burgess’s assistance where he was fatally overcome.

Nottingham Journal, 27 April 1925: SECOND DEATH IN BURTON MYSTERY. Arising out of the shocking gas tragedy discovered at Burton on Thursday last a second death has occurred, Mrs Sarah Burgess, aged 77, passing away in the local Infirmary on Saturday. The inquest on George Farndale, the other victim, had been adjourned in the hope that Mrs Burgess would be able to give evidence, and her death only deepens the mystery surrounding the affair.

Yorkshire Post, 27 April 1925: BURTON ON TRENT TRAGEDY. Two people have lost their lives at Burton on Trent as the result of gas poisoning. They are missing Sarah Burgess, aged 77, who died in the local Infirmary on Saturday, and George Farndale, who lodged with her. It is stated that when they were not seen about, Mrs Burgess’s son, Mr G L Burgess, was summoned and an entrance forced. The old lady was discovered unconscious in bed, and Farndale lying dead face downwards on the floor. The gas was on, but it was stated that the fitting, which was old fashioned, was loose and had no definite “off” position. Door and windows were closed, but there was no indication that they had been deliberately blocked up. The inquest on Farndale was adjourned in order to take Mrs Burgess’s evidence, but she died without recovering consciousness. Farndale, whose age is estimated at 71 or 72, is believed to have sisters alive at Yarm, Yorkshire. All that is known of him locally common is that he was employed by a Rochdale firm, and for the last eight years he had been lodging periodically with Mrs Burgess, when working for his employers in the Burton on Trent district.

Birmingham Daily Post, 27 April 1925: THE BURTON GAS TRAGEDY. DEATH OF MRS BURGESS. The aged widow, Mrs Burgess, of Horneglow Street, Burton on Trent, who on Thursday was found unconscious in bed, when her lodger, George Farndale, an elderly man, was discovered dead on the floor of the room from gas poisoning through a defective tap on the bracket, died in the Infirmary on Saturday, without having regained consciousness. On Friday the Deputy Coroner adjourned the inquest on Farndale until today in the hope that Mrs Burgess would be able to attend.

Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 28 April 1925: DERBYSHIRE. TAP WITHOUT ‘STOP’. INQUIRY INTO BURTON DOUBLE GAS TRAGEDY. A verdict of “accidental death” was returned on the inquest at Burton yesterday on George Farndale, 71, a Yorkshire millwright, and Mrs Sarah Burgess, 77, his landlady, who were found, the man dead and the woman unconscious in a gas filled bedroom. It was stated the man died from arterial sclerosis, accelerated by carbon monoxide poisoning, otherwise shock, almost at the moment he discovered the escape of gas, and that the woman survived 10 hours longer exposure to the gas, and died two days after she was found. The Deputy Coroner said that the deaths illustrated the great danger of having bad gas fittings, as the tap turned all the way round, having no “stop”.

Birmingham Daily Post, 28 April 1925: GAS TRAGEDY VICTIMS. BURTON CORONER AND DANGER OF BAD FITTINGS. No further evidence being available, the Burton on Trent Deputy Coroner yesterday recorded a verdict of “accidental death” at the adjourned inquest on George Farndale, 71, the Yorkshire millwright, who was found dead on Thursday in a gas filled bedroom at a house in Horneglow Street, where he lodged. The Deputy Coroner then took evidence with regard to the death of Farndale's landlady, Mrs Sarah Burgess, 77, who was found unconscious in the room and died in the Infirmary on Saturday. Inspector Haynes described the gas bracket in the room where Mrs Burgess and Farndale were found as being of an old fashioned type. The tap, he said, turned around completely, having no “stop”. It was very loose, and the slightest touch would turn it on. Also recording a verdict of “accidental death” with regard to Mrs Burgess, the deputy, coroner remarked: “I think this case shows the great danger of having bad gas fittings. The fittings in this room were particularly dangerous.”