FARRAR, FREDERIC WILLIAM ), English divine, was born on Aug. 7, 1831, in the fort of Bombay, where his father, afterwards vicar of Sidcup, Kent, was a missionary. His early education was received in King William's college, Castle town, Isle of Man, a school whose external surroundings are repro duced in his school tale, Eric; or, Little by Little. In 1847 he entered King's college, London, and was led by F. D. Maurice to the study of Coleridge, whose writings had a profound influ ence upon his faith and opinions. He went up in 1851 to Trinity college, Cambridge, where he became a fellow in 1856.
On leaving the university Farrar became an assistant-master, first at Marlborough College, and then (1 855) at Harrow. In 1871 he was appointed headmaster of Marlborough College, and in the following year chaplain-in-ordinary to the queen, becoming canon of Westminster and rector of St. Margaret's, Westminster, in 1876. Farrar's first book was his schoolboy story Eric (1858) followed by Julian Home and Lyrics of Life (18S9) and by St. Wini f red's; or the World of School (1862) . His Hulsean lec tures were published in 1870 under the title of The Witness of History to Christ. The Life of Christ, which was published in 1874, passed through a great number of editions. His volume of sermons on Eternal Hope (1877)—in which he called in question the dogma of everlasting punishment—caused much controversy but helped to mollify the harsh theology of an earlier age. In 1879 appeared The Life and Works of St. Paul, followed by The Early Days of Christianity (1882), and other popular works. Farrar was a copious contributor of articles to various maga zines, encyclopaedias and theological commentaries. In 1883 he was made archdeacon of Westminster and rural dean; in 1885 he was appointed Bampton lecturer at Oxford, and took for his subject "The History of Interpretation." He was appointed dean of Canterbury in 1895. He died at Canterbury on March 22, 1903.