author
James Farrer
1812–1879
Best known for a vivid account of the runic inscriptions uncovered at Maeshowe in Orkney, this Victorian writer moved easily between public life and early archaeology. His surviving work offers a glimpse of 19th-century excavation at a moment when ancient sites were only beginning to be studied in a modern way.
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About the author
Born in 1812 and died in 1879, he is chiefly remembered today for Notice of Runic Inscriptions Discovered during Recent Excavations in the Orkneys, a work connected with the opening of Maeshowe in July 1861. The book helped introduce readers to the remarkable Norse carvings found inside the chambered monument and preserves part of the excitement surrounding that discovery.
He was also active in public life as a Conservative Member of Parliament for South Durham, and he belonged to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Beyond Maeshowe, sources credit him with excavations in Orkney from the 1850s and with the first excavation of Chedworth Roman Villa in the 1860s.
Although not a prolific literary figure in the usual sense, his writing has lasting value for readers interested in antiquarian research, early archaeology, and the Victorian fascination with Britain's deep past.