author
James Farrer
1812–1879
Best remembered as a Victorian politician with a real passion for archaeology, he helped open up some of Britain's most intriguing ancient sites. His name is especially tied to the 1861 excavation of Maeshowe in Orkney and early work at Chedworth Roman Villa.
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About the author
Born in Yorkshire in 1812, he came from a landowning family and later served as a Conservative Member of Parliament for South Durham, winning the seat three times before retiring from Parliament in 1865.
Alongside politics, he built a reputation as an enthusiastic amateur archaeologist. He belonged to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and the Society of Antiquaries of London, and his excavations included brochs in Orkney, the opening of Maeshowe in July 1861, and some of the first excavation work at Chedworth Roman Villa.
He also wrote about his discoveries. A surviving work attributed to him is Notice of Runic Inscriptions Discovered during Recent Excavations in the Orkneys, published after the Maeshowe excavations. He died in 1879.