[3][4] Born in Coventry, Farndon started his career at the Lythalls Lane track in Foleshill and later rode for the club based at Brandon Stadium, before a spell with the Crystal Palace Glaziers.

[5] The speedway scenes from the 1933 film Britannia of Billingsgate were shot at Hackney Wick Stadium and featured some of the leading riders in Britain at the time including Farndon, Colin Watson, Arthur Warwick, Gus Kuhn, Claude Rye and Ron Johnson.

Farndon suffered a fractured skull and spine injury and was unconscious when he was transferred to the Miller General Hospital in Greenwich.

Tom died two days later (on 30 August) in Miller General Hospital, Greenwich, without regaining consciousness.

An art deco memorial in the form of a motorbike racer, carved by local sculptor Richard Ormerod out of black granite stands at Tom's final resting place in St. Paul's Cemetery, Holbrook Lane, Coventry.