FARRER, THOMAS HENRY FARRER, 1ST BARON(1819-1899)

This article appears in Volume V10, Page 189 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: EUD-FAT

FARRER, THOMAS HENRY FARRER, 1ST BARON(1819-1899) , English civil servant and statistician, was the son of

Thomas

Farrer, a solicitor in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Born in London on the 24th of June 1819, he was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated in 184o. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1844, but retired from practice in the course of a few years. He entered the public service in 185o as secretary to the naval (renamed in 1853 the marine) department of the Board of Trade. In 1865 he was-promoted to be one of the

joint

JOINT (through Fr. from Lat. junctum, jungere, to join)

secretaries of the Board of Trade, and in 1867 became permanent secretary. His

tenure

TENURE (Fr. tenure, from Lat. tenere, to hold)

of this office, which he held for upwards of twenty years, was marked by many reforms and an energetic administration. Not only was he an advanced Liberal in politics, but an uncompromising Free-trader of the strictest school. He was created a

baronet

BARONET

for his services at the Board of Trade in 1883, and in 1886 he retired from office. During the same year he published a

work

WORK

entitled Free Trade versus

Fair

FAIR

Trade, in which he dealt with an economic controversy then greatly agitating the public mind. He had already, in 1883, written a volume on The State in its Relation to Trade. In 1888 he was co-opted by the Progressives an alderman of the London County Council, of which he became vice-chairman in 189o. His efficiency and ability in this capacity were warmly recognized; but in the course of time divergencies arose between his personal views and those of many of his colleagues. The tendency towards socialistic legislation which became apparent was quite at variance with his principles of individual enterprise and responsibility. He consequently resigned his position. In 1893 he was raised to the peerage. From this time forward he devoted much of his energy and leisure to advocating his views at the Cobden Club, the Political

Economy

ECONOMY

Club,on the platform, and in the public press. Especially were his efforts directed against the opinions of the

Fair

FAIR

Trade League, and upon this and other controversies on economic questions he wrote able, clear, and uncompromising letters, which left no doubt that he still adhered to the doctrines of free trade as advocated by its earliest exponents. In 1898 he published his Studies in Currency. He died at Abinger

Hall

, Dorking, on the 11th of October 1899. He was succeeded in the title by his eldest son

Thomas

Cecil (b. 1859).

End of Article: FARRER, THOMAS HENRY FARRER, 1ST BARON(1819-1899)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/EUD_FAT/FARRER_THOMAS_HENRY_FARRER_1ST.html">
FARRER, THOMAS HENRY FARRER, 1ST BARON(1819-1899)
</a>

(Previous)
FARREN, WILLIAM (1786-1861)

(Next)
FARRIER

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email