Our Heritage

The history of Parker Knoll starts with Fredrick Parker, a young Upholsterer from Shoreditch. Frederick Parker’s father owned a cabinet-making business, and this is where his son’s passion for quality furniture blossomed. In 1869, Frederick Parker set up his own upholstery business, operating out of his father’s factory, creating high-quality Chairs and Settees. He also enjoyed tinkering with different furniture-related inventions, and even invented the Box Ottoman, for which he had to patent a new sort of hinge. His work was of such a high standard that he was a near-instant success, soon he was employing his own staff. Eventually, Fredrick got his own premises and joined forces with his brother Walter. Walter was a Cabinet maker so could supply the frames that Fredrick would then Upholster. The business continued to soar.

It wasn’t long before the news of Parker chairs reached the Royal family, who took note of his beautiful designs and summoned him to Buckingham Palace to measure King Edward VII for a chair. The King was extremely pleased with his initial prototype and ordered one to be made. Thus, began a long-standing relationship between Parker Knoll and the Victorian gentry which would be the basis on which would last well into the next century. The business continued to do well in the early 1900s at which time the business was moved to even bigger premises in High Wycombe. The company even received an order from the RMS Aquitania, the one-of-a-kind naval ocean liner, to furnish the Palladian Lounge. A great honour, which it gladly fulfilled. The honours didn’t stop there, however; the company also supplied the royal yacht, HMS Ophir, in 1901 to carry the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (the future King George V and Queen Mary) to Australia. Parker also made furniture for the Viceroy’s House in New Delhi, and a carved throne for Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie.

Meanwhile, Willi Knoll, a man born in Germany, was serving as a fighter pilot in WWI. Whilst he served, Willi was frequently bothered by the uncomfortable nature of his aircraft’s seats. A naturally inventive mind, Willi started to dream up how he could solve this problem. When the fighting was done, he invented the patent that would change his life. An innovative spring technology that created gorgeously comfortable seats.

In 1929, Frederick Parker’s sons took over the running of the business, around the same time that Willi was travelling around the UK, trying to sell his technology. The Parker Company saw the value in such an innovation, and thus a partnership was born. For the first time, the Parker Company introduced luxury spring furniture. The springs that featured the patent were known as ‘Tension Sprung Chairs‘. In these Chairs, the springs hook side-to-side; at the time of Tension Sprung’s invention, all chairs had large, boxy and deep seat bases that were necessary to cover the chairs’ coils. Our chairs, however, could now feature an elegant seat pad that was much more comfortable. To this day, we still sell chairs that proudly feature this technology.

It was at that moment in 1929, that the Parker Knoll brand you know and love today was born. The new chairs and branding were launched at the British Industries Fair in 1931, and the company invested in advertising in national papers like The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph. It did not take long for major success to follow. Parker Knoll were asked to supply the BBC Broadcasting House with our chairs, as well as providing furniture for the iconic RMS Queen Mary.

The business continued to do well on a national scale, until WW2 broke out. Rationing and a falling economy meant that the furniture industry became pretty much non-existent. We decided to utilise our factories and craftsmanship to contribute to the war effort. Parker Knoll began to manufacture A-frames, wooden boxes, and wings for the de Havilland Mosquito, an iconic British fighter jet. In 1941, it was the fastest operational aircraft in the world and was made nearly entirely of wood. Parker Knoll also helped to repair Allied fighter jets that had sustained damage.

After the war, we got back to furniture making, and Parker Knoll’s success continued right up until now. In in 1997, a charity – the Frederick Parker Foundation – was established to acquire 170 chairs, 150 carvings and the Frederick Parker Company archive, to maintain as an archive of furniture design and manufacture. The collection is on long-term loan to a dedicated gallery at the London Metropolitan University’s resource centre, Metropolitan Works.

Click the image to watch a timeline of our history.