Dean Frederic William Farrar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1831-08-07)7 August 1831 Bombay, India |
| Died | 22 March 1903(1903-03-22) (aged 71) Canterbury, Kent, England |
| Occupation | Cleric, writer |
| Alma mater | |
| Period | 19th century |
| Genre | Theology, children's literature |
| Subject | The Highest Heaven. Farrar commentary |
DeanFrederic William Farrar (Bombay, 7 August 1831 –Canterbury, 22 March 1903) was a senior-ranking cleric of theChurch of England, schoolteacher and author. He was a pallbearer at the funeral ofCharles Darwin in 1882. He was a member of theCambridge Apostles secret society. He was theArchdeacon of Westminster from 1883 to 1894, andDean of Canterbury from 1895 until his death in 1903.
Farrar was born inBombay, India, and educated atKing William's College on theIsle of Man,King's College London andTrinity College, Cambridge.[1] At Cambridge he won theChancellor's Gold Medal for poetry in 1852.[2] He was for some years a master atHarrow School and, from 1871 to 1876, the headmaster ofMarlborough College.
Farrar spent much of his career associated withWestminster Abbey. He was successively acanon there (appointed in 1876), rector ofSt Margaret's (the church next door), and eventuallyarchdeacon of the Abbey (appointed in 1883). He later served asDean of Canterbury;[3] andchaplain in ordinary, i.e. attached to theRoyal Household.[4] He was an eloquent preacher and a voluminous author, his writings includingstories of school life, such asEric, or, Little by Little andSt. Winifred's about life in a boys' boarding school in late Victorian England, and two historical romances.
Farrar was a classics scholar and acomparative philologist, who appliedCharles Darwin's ideas of branching descent to the relationships between languages, engaging in a protracted debate with the anti-Darwinian linguistMax Müller.[5] While Farrar was never convinced by the evidence for evolution in biology, he had no theological objections to the idea and urged that it be considered on purely scientific grounds.[6] On Darwin's nomination, Farrar was elected to theRoyal Society in 1866 for his philological work. When Darwin died in 1882, the thenCanon Farrar helped get the church's permission for him to be buried in Westminster Abbey and preached the sermon at his funeral.[6]
Farrar's religious writings includedLife of Christ (1874), which had great popularity, andLife of St. Paul (1879). He also contributed, first as Canon Farrar then asArchdeacon Farrar, two volumes to the commentary seriesThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, on theGospel according to St. Luke and on theEpistle to the Hebrews. His works were translated into many languages, especiallyLife of Christ.
Farrar believed that some could be saved after death.[7][8] He originated the term "abominable fancy" for the longstanding Christian idea that the eternal punishment of the damned would entertain the saved.[9] Farrar publishedEternal Hope in 1878 andMercy and Judgment in 1881, both of which defend his position on hell at length.[7][10]
Farrar was accused ofuniversalism, but he denies this belief with great certainty. In 1877 Farrar in an introduction to five sermons he wrote, in the preface he attacks the idea that he holds to universalism. He also dismisses any accusation from those who would say otherwise. He says, "I dare not lay down any dogma of Universalism; partly because it is not clearly revealed to us, and partly because it is impossible for us to estimate the hardening effect of obstinate persistence in evil, and the power of the human will to resist the law and reject the love of God."[10]
In April 1882, the then Canon Farrar was one of ten pallbearers at the funeral ofCharles Darwin in Westminster Abbey; the others were: The Duke of Devonshire, The Duke of Argyll, The Earl of Derby, Mr. J. Russell Lowell, Mr. W. Spottiswoode, Sir Joseph Hooker, Mr.A. R. Wallace,Thomas Huxley, and Sir John Lubbock (John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury)[11][12]
On 1 August 1860 at St Leonard's Church, Exeter, he married Lucy Mary Cardew; they had five sons and five daughters:[11]
The first eight were born at Harrow; the last two were born at Marlborough.
The second daughter, Hilda, was married in 1881 to John Stafford Northcote, vicar of St Andrew's, Westminster. John was the third son ofSir Stafford Northcote, 1stBaronet (later created the 1stEarl of Iddesleigh); John and Hilda's son Henry (1901–1970) succeeded as the 3rd Earl of Iddesleigh in 1927.
Farrar allowed his third daughter, Maud, to become engaged toHenry Montgomery at 14 and marry at 16, the marriage taking place in 1881. The thenCanon Farrar wasRector ofSt Margaret's, Westminster at the time, and Montgomery was the curate. Montgomery went on to becomeBishop of Tasmania. Henry and Maud's children includedField MarshalThe 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, better known as 'Monty', a senior-ranking military commander inWorld War II.[13]
Farrar's son Reginald published his biography in 1902.[6]Dean Farrar died on 22 March 1903 and was buried in the cloister of theCanterbury Cathedral.[11]
Farrar has a street named after him – Dean Farrar Street inWestminster, London. There is also a memorial to him at the church ofSt Margaret's, Westminster by the sculptorNathaniel Hitch.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Cousin, John William (1910). "Farrar, Frederic William".A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons – viaWikisource.
| Church of England titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Archdeacon of Westminster 1883–1894 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Dean of Canterbury 1895–1903 | Succeeded by |
