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FARQUHAR,
a surname derived from the Gaelic word Fearchar, or Ferchard, which
appears to have its foundation in Ferg or Fearg (Gaelic, meaning anger of
wrath), the root of Fergus, which see. Farquhar is the name of an old
family in the county of Ayr, which have enjoyed the lands of
Gilmilnescroft, or Guildmedscroft, sometimes written Gilmercroft, in
Kyle-Stewart, for many generations, the representative of which, James
Gray Farquhar, Esq., eldest son of the heiress of Gilmilnescroft, wife of
John Gray, Esq. of Kilmerdenny, descended from the youngest son of Sir
William Gray of Pittendrum, ancestor of Lord Gray, succeeded in 1809.
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A branch of the
Ayrshire family seems to have settled very early in Aberdeenshire, to
which belonged Sir Robert Farquhar, of Lenturk, knight, who was provost of
Aberdeen in 1661. His great-great-grandson was the eminent physician, Sir
Walter Farquhar, baronet, son of the Rev. Robert Farquhar, for many years
minister of Chapel of Garioch. He was born at Peterhead, and was one of a
large family, several of whom distinguished themselves, particularly his
brother John, who died young, but had acquired a high character as a
divine. His sermons, after his death, were edited by Principal Campbell
and Professor Gerard of Aberdeen, and have gone through many editions.
After studying for the medical profession for four years at the university
of King’s college, Old Aberdeen, and taking his degree of M.A., Sir Walter
went to the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Afterwards, through the
patronage of Lord Howe, he was appointed surgeon in the 19th
foot, and attended his lordship when wounded at the siege of Belleisle.
The regiment being subsequently ordered to Gibraltar, he obtained leave of
absence, and proceeded to France, where he remained for a hear and a half,
visiting the hospitals in the provinces and in Paris, and associating with
the most eminent men of the period, in the several branches of medicine
and surgery. He studied several months under the great Le Cat, at Rouen in
Normandy, taking up his abode in the house of that celebrated anatomist,
who was the founder and director of the famous hospital there. On his
return to Gibraltar, his practice became considerable, but he was obliged,
from ill health, to resign his situation there, when he settled in London,
and soon after married Mrs. Harvie, the widow of a physician from Jamaica.
In a short time his practice became the most extensive of any physician in
the metropolis, and on March 1, 1796, he was created a baronet of the
United Kingdom. He was the confidential medical adviser of Mr. Pitt and
Lord Melville, and he was appointed one of the physicians to the prince of
Wales, afterwards George the Fourth, when Regent. In 1813 he gave up
general practice, and confined his attendance exclusively to the prince
regent and to those families who classed him with their friends. Sir
Walter died 26th march 1819, leaving three sons and four
daughters.
His eldest son,
Sir Thomas Harvie Farquhar, second baronet, born 27th June
1775, died in January 1836, leaving 3 sons and 3 daughters. The eldest
son, Sir Walter Rockcliffe Farquhar, third baronet, born 4th
June 1810, married 28th November 1837, the lady Mary Octavia
Somerset, youngest daughter of the sixth duke of Beaufort, with issue.
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Sir Robert
Townsend Farquhar, the second son of Sir Walter Farquhar, the eminent
physician, born October 14, 1776, was for many years commercial resident
at Amboyna, and afterwards lieutenant-governor of Pulo-Penang. At the
peace of Amiens in 1802, he was appointed commissioner for adjusting the
British claims in the Moluccas, and to deliver up those islands to the
Batavian republic. In 1812 he was appointed governor and
commander-in-chief of the island of Mauritius, and resigned that office in
1823. He was created a baronet 21st August 1821, and assumed
the additional name of Townsend by sign manual in 1824. He died 16th
March 1830, aged 53. At the time of his death he was M.P. for Hythe, a
director of the East India Company, and of the Alliance Insurance Company.
In 1807 he published a pamphlet entitled ‘Suggestions for counteracting
any injurious effects upon the population of the British West India
Colonies from the abolition of the Slave Trade.’
His son, Sir
Walter Minto Townsend Farquhar, second baronet of this branch, born 26th
October 1809, married in 1835, the daughter of the seventh Lord Reay, with
issue.
FARQUHAR, JOHN,
an eccentric and very wealthy individual, in the latter years of his life
known as Farquhar of Fonthill, was born at Bilbo, parish of Crimond,
Aberdeenshire, in 1751, of poor parents. Early in life he went to India,
as a cadet in the Bombay establishment, where he was a chum of the late
General Kerr, and soon after his arrival he received, in an engagement, a
dangerous wound in the hip, which caused lameness, and affected his health
so much that he was recommended to remove to Bengal. He soon quitted the
military service, and became a free merchant. Chemistry was his favourite
pursuit, and from its practical application the foundation of his immense
fortune was laid. There happened to be some defect in the mode of
manufacturing gunpowder, in the interior, at Pultah, and Mr. Farquhar
being selected by the marquis Cornwallis, then governor-general of India,
as a fit person to superintend the manufactory, ultimately became the sole
contractor to the Government. In this way, wealth and distinction rapidly
poured in upon him, and he attained the particular favour and confidence
of the governor Warren Hastings. In Bengal he was always remarkable for
the closeness of his application, his unabating perseverance, and
extraordinary mental vigour.
After a number
of years he returned to England with a fortune estimated at half a million
of money. On landing at Gravesend, it is said that, to save coach hire, he
walked to London, and, requiring a few pounds, his first visit was to his
banker. Covered with dust and dirt, with clothes not worth a guinea, he
presented himself at the counter, and asked to see Mr. Hoare. Believing
him to be some poor unimportant personage come to solicit charity, the
clerks paid no attention to his request, but allowed him to wait in the
cash-office, until Mr. Hoare, accidentally passing through it, after some
explanation, recognised his Indian customer, a man whom he expected to see
with all a nabob’s pomp. Mr. Farquhar requested £25, and took his leave.
Having
subsequently hired a house in Upper Baker Street, Portman Square, London,
his residence became remarkable for its dingy appearance, uncleaned
windows, and general neglect. An old woman was his sole attendant, and she
was not allowed to enter his own apartment, to which a brush or broom was
never applied. His neighbours were not at all acquainted with his
character; and there have been instances of some of them offering him
money as an object of charity, or as a reduced gentleman. The parsimonious
habits, which poverty had compelled him to adopt in early life, never
forsook him, even when master of a princely fortune, but adhered to him
through life.
He became a
partner in the great agency house in the city, of Basset, Farquhar, and
Col, and also purchased the late Mr. Whitbread’s share in the brewery.
Part of his wealth was devoted to the purchase of estates, but the great
bulk was invested in stock, and allowed to increase on the principle of
compound interest. Every half year he regularly drew his dividends, his
mercantile profits, and his rents, and purchased in the funds. In this
manner his wealth accumulated to an enormous amount. In the summer of 1822
he bought Fonthill Abbey, at the sum of £330,000; and afterwards
occasionally resided there, sometimes visited by his relations, till the
fall of the tower in December 1825.
Slovenly in his
dress, and disagreeable at his meals, Mr. Farquhar was yet courteous and
affable in his manners. He was deeply read in the classics; and though
adverse through life to writing and figures, when prevailed upon to pen a
letter or a note, his style was found to be at once terse, elegant, and
condensed. In the more difficult sciences, as a mathematician, chemist,
and mechanic, he greatly excelled. His religious opinions were said to be
influenced by an admiration of the purity of the lives and moral
principles of the Brahmins. It is stated that he offered to appropriate
£100,000 to found a college in Aberdeen on the most enlarged plan of
education, with a reservation on points of religion; to which, however,
the sanction of parliament could not be procured, and the scheme dropped.
He was diminutive in person, and by no means prepossessing in appearance.
His wealth, at his death, was computed to amount to a million and a half!
Though penurious towards his own comforts, he was liberal and generous to
the poor; and many mornings when he had left his house with a crust of
bread in his pocket, to save the expense of a penny at an oyster shop, he
has given away hundreds of pounds in acts of charity. Mr. Farquhar died
suddenly of apoplexy, July 6, 1826. Having left no will, his immense
property was divided between seven nephews and nieces, almost all of them
belonging to Aberdeenshire. |
