Early life

The son of Richard John Farre, a medical practitioner, he was born on 31 January 1775 in Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

. After school education in the island he studied medicine under his father, and in 1792 came to England and studied medicine at the school then formed by the united hospitals of St. Thomas's and Guy's. At the end of 1793 he became a member of the corporation of surgeons, and went with Mr. Foster, surgeon to Guy's Hospital

Guy's Hospital

Guy's Hospital is a large NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in south east London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It is a large teaching hospital and is home to the King's College London School of Medicine...

, to France in the Earl of Moira

Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings

Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings KG PC , styled The Honourable Francis Rawdon from birth until 1762 and as The Lord Rawdon between 1762 and 1783 and known as The Earl of Moira between 1793 and 1816, was an Irish-British politician and military officer who served as...

's expedition. After the expedition failed he came back to London, and afterwards entered practice in the island of Barbados.

Career

In 1800 he returned to England, studied for two years in Edinburgh, and took the degree of M.D. at Aberdeen on 22 January 1806. He became licentiate of the College of Physicians of London on 31 March 1806, and began practice as a physician. He was one of the founders of the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital, to which he was physician for fifty years.

His portrait, by Thomas Phillips, R.A., was to be seen in the board-room of the Ophthalmic Hospital in Moorfields, London.

Works

He edited James's book on Arterial and Secondary Haemorrhage in 1805 and John Cunningham Saunders

John Cunningham Saunders

John Cunningham Saunders, M.D. was an English surgeon, known for his pioneering work on the surgery of cataracts. He was founder of the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital .-Life:Saunders was born at Huish, Devon, England...

 on Diseases of the Eye in 1811. He also edited the Journal of Morbid Anatomy, Ophthalmic Medicine and Pharmaceutical Analysis. He himself wrote The Morbid Anatomy of the Liver, London, 1812-1815, and Pathological Researches on Malformations of the Human Heart, London, 1814. This work contains an account of nearly all the cases recorded in England up to its date, and of several observed by the author. His specimens, with others, illustrative of other parts of morbid anatomy, were preserved in the museum of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, to which they were presented by his sons.

Family and later life

He retired from practice in 1856, died on 7 May 1862, and is buried at Kensal Green. His house was in Charterhouse Square, and he had two sons who attained distinction in medicine, Frederic John Farre

Frederic John Farre

Frederic John Farre , was an English physician.-Life:Farre was the second son of John Richard Farre, M.D. He was born in Charterhouse Square, London, on 16 December 1804. He was educated at the Charterhouse School, where he was gold medallist in 1821, and captain in 1822. Having obtained a...

 and Arthur Farre

Arthur Farre

Arthur Farre , was an English obstetric physician.-Life:Farre was the younger son of Dr. John Richard Farre of Charterhouse Square, London. He was born in London on 6 March 1811. He was educated at Charterhouse School and at Caius College, Cambridge. After studying medicine at St. Bartholomew's...

.