FARRAR, FREDERIC WILLIAM, 1831-1903.
Papers, 1825-1904.

MANUSCRIPT NUMBER 062

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CITATION:  Frederic William Farrar Papers, MSS 062, Archives and Manuscripts Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University.

Anglican theologian and scholar, Frederic William Farrar, was the second son of Charles Pinhorn Farrar and his wife Caroline Turner. He was born on August 7, 1831 in the fort at Bombay, India. At the age of three, he was sent with his elder brother to live with two aunts in Aylesbury until their parents returned to England. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1854 and proceeded to obtain his Master of Arts in 1857, and Doctorate of Divinity in 1874.

In 1854, Farrar accepted a mastership at Marlborough College, where he showed special gifts as a master. On Christmas day 1854, he was ordained deacon, and priest in 1857. He left Marlborough in November 1855 to take mastership under Dr. Vaughn at Harrow College. Reverend Farrar remained at Harrow for fifteen years. While at Harrow, Farrar devoted much of his time to literary pursuits, earning for himself a reputation in the fields of fiction, philology, and theology.

He published a number of works including Eric, or Little by Little (1858), Julian Home: a Tale of College Life (18th ed., 1905), An Essay on the Origin of Language: based on Modern Researches and especially on the Works of M. Renan (1860), and Families of Speech (1890). In 1866, Farrar was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in recognition for his work as a philologist. He composed a card of "Greek Grammar Rules" and published A Brief Greek Syntax (1867). In 1870, he visited Palestine with Walter Leaf to finish research for his Life of Christ (1874). He also completed the Life of St. Paul (1879) and The Early Days of Christianity (1882).

In 1876, he accepted a canonery of Westminister with the rectory of St. Margaret's parish. In 1883, he was appointed archdeacon of Westminister. In 1890, he was chosen chaplain to the House of Commons. In 1895, he became dean of Canterbury on the recommendation of Lord Rosebery. In three years, he raised 19,000 pounds in public subscriptions for the repair and restor- ation of Canterbury Cathedral. In 1899, his right hand was affected by muscular atrophy, which slowly attacked all his muscles. After a long illness, he died on March 22, 1903.

Arranged chronologically from 1825 to 1904, most of the approximately 375 letters are written to Farrar from other British theologians and scholars. It is unclear to whom the 1904 letter is written. Many of the letters to Farrar concern matters of the Church of England, including letters from Frederick Temple, Bishop of Liverpool, and William Boyd Carpenter, Bishop of Liverpool.  Most of the letters concern the daily routine matters of English school masters.  A few of the letters, particularly from William Sanday and Dr. Whewell, offer criticisms of works by Farrar. The collection also contains correspondence written in 1888 concerning Farrar's efforts to erect a monument to Admiral Robert Blake. There also are some letters concerning the Church of England Temperance Party. Among the more notable correspondents are William H. Thompson, Dr. Whewell, Lord Rosebery, William Sanday, and George Trevelyan.  The undated letters written by Farrar, mostly to Sir Edwin Arnold, were probably written between the 1870's and the 1890's.

Amherst, [Honourable Percy A.?]
Arnold, Sir Edwin, Editor of the "Daily Telegraph" and poet
Auckland, Bishop
Bramwell, Frederick
Carpenter, William Boyd, Bishop of Ripon
Cheyne, Thomas Kelly, Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford
Copleston, Edward, Bishop of Llandaff
Cranbrook, [James?]
Dambrymple, Charles, House of Commons
Davidson, Randall Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury
Davis, Rev. J. Dewelyn
Festing, John Wogan, Bishop of St. Albans
Gore, Charles, Bishop of Oxford
Hamilton, Lord George Francis, Secretary of State for India
Hamilton, Walter Kerr, Bishop of Salisbury
Harcourt, Sir William Vernon, Professor of international law at the University of Cambridge
Hawkins, F. Vaughn
Hayman, Dr. Henry?, Head Master of Rugby School
Henyon, [H. Henly?]
Holland, Rev. Henry Scott
How, William Walsham, Bishop of Wakefield
Hughes, H. Price, great Methodist Divine
Jessopp, Dr. Augustus, Head Master of the Grammar School, Norwich
Jex-Blake, Dr. Thomas William, Principal of Cheltenham College
Lansdowne, (3rd Marquis of)
Lawson, Sir Wilfred
Liddon, Dr. Henry Parry, Canon of St. Paul's, London, Dean Ireland's Professor of
   Exegesis in the University of Oxford
Littledale, Rev. Richard Fred., Red Lion Square, London
Jackson, John, Bishop of Liverpool
Lushington, Godfrey
Lyall, Rev. William Hearle, Rector of St. Dionis Backchurch, London?
Maclear, George Frederick, Head master of King's College School, London
Moberly, George, Bishop of Salisbury
Northcott, Lord
Peel, Arthur Wellesley, Speaker of the House of Commons
Pemberton, Busick
Ridley, Sir Matthews White, Secretary of State Home Department
Rosebery, Lord
Russell, George
Ryle, John Charles, Bishop of Liverpool
Salisbury, Lord
Sanday, Rev. William, Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, and Vicar Great Waltham, Essex
Savory, Sir Joseph
Selwyn, William, Canon resident of Ely
Stainer, Sir Lovelace
Stanhope, Edward (one of Farrar's first pupil at Harrow)
Straton, Norman Dumenil John, Bishop of Sodor
Temple, Frederick, Bishop of Liverpool
Thompson, William Hepworth, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Honourable
    Canon of Ely
Trevelyan, Sir George Otto
Vaughan, Bernard
Vaughan, Herbert Alfred, Cardinal, Westminister
Wakefield, William Walsham
Whewell, Dr.

1/1                1825-1861
1/2                1865-1866
1/3                1867
1/4                1868-1869
1/5                1870
1/6                1871
1/7                1873-1875
1/8                1876-1877
1/9                1878-1880
1/10              1881
1/11              1882-1886
1/12              1887
1/13              1888
1/14              1889
1/15              1890 January-August
1/16              1890 October-December
1/17              1891 January-March
1/18              1891 April-December
1/19              1892 January-June
1/20               July-December
1/21              1893
1/22              1894
1/23              1895 January-April
1/24               May-December
1/25              1896 January-May
1/26               June-October
1/27               November-December
1/28              1897 January-April
1/29               May
1/30               June-September
1/31               October-December
1/32              1898 January-April
1/33               May-December
2/1                1899 February-March
2/2                 April-December
2/3                1900 April-September
2/4                 November-December
2/5                1901
2/6                1902-1904
2/7-11           undated

Separated material:  Pictures of Dean Farrar from a magazine (P-62/1-9)