Grahame Edgar Farr (27 October 1912 – 22 November 1983) was a

maritime historian Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

, specialising in the history of ships and shipping in the south-west of England from the eighteenth century onwards. He also wrote about the history of the

lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen A ...

. Farr was born, educated, lived and worked in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

; his interest in ships and shipping came from his father, and his upbringing in Bristol. Farr worked for a printing firm; his research and writing therefore had to be conducted in his spare time. Farr wrote many books on maritime history; the most notable being ''Records of Bristol Ships, 1800-1838''; ''Somerset Harbours, including the Port of Bristol''; and ''West Country passenger steamers''. He archives are held by the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...

and the Friends of

Purton Purton is a large village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about northwest of the centre of Swindon. The parish includes the village of Purton Stoke and the hamlets of Bentham, Hayes Knoll, Purton Common, Restrop, The Fox and Widham. Th ...

Personal life

Farr was born in

Clifton, Bristol Clifton is both a suburb of Bristol, England, and the name of one of the city's thirty-five council wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells. The eastern part of the suburb lies within the ward of Clifton Do ...

on 27 October 1912. His father was Edgar James Farr, who worked for the Bristol Steam Navigation Company for 50 years, starting as an office boy and finishing as an accountant. The ''

Western Daily Press The ''Western Daily Press'' is a regional newspaper covering parts of South West England, mainly Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset as well as the metropolitan areas of Bath and North East Somerset and the Bristol area. It is published Mon ...

'' described Edgar Farr as "A well-known figure in Bristol shipping circles". Farr's interest in ships and shipping came from his father, and his upbringing in Bristol. Farr was educated in his hometown at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

. Prior to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Farr married a governess named Elsie. Their son Michael was born in Bristol on 18 November 1938. Before Michael's first birthday, Farr enlisted in the British army. While Farr served in the military, his wife and son lived in a house near the

Avonmouth Docks The Avonmouth Docks are part of the Port of Bristol, in England. They are situated on the northern side of the mouth of the River Avon, opposite the Royal Portbury Dock on the southern side, where the river joins the Severn estuary, within Avon ...

in Bristol. To protect themselves when Germans bombed their town, Elsie and Michael stayed in a steel shelter in their dining room. In 1942, Elsie and Michael moved to a cottage owned by her employers in the village of

Temple Cloud Temple Cloud () is a village in the Chew Valley in Somerset on the A37 road. It is in the civil parish of Temple Cloud with Cameley and in the council area of Bath and North East Somerset. It is from Bristol and from the town of Midsomer No ...

, where there was less likelihood of being bombed. In 1945, they visited family in Scotland. The family—Grahame, Elsie, and Michael—returned to their home in Bristol in July 1945.

Career

On leaving Clifton College, Farr worked for a printing firm in Bristol, where he stayed for the whole of his professional life, apart from his war service. Farr's research and writing had to be conducted in his spare time. During the

, Farr served with the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

(RASC), being made

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

on 23 November 1940. By 1944 he was a War Substantive Lieutenant. His war service took him to Kenya, Madagascar and Ceylon. Farr was an early member of the Bristol Shiplovers Society (founded in 1931); he became its Honorary Secretary before the war. An objective of the society was to "collect data, past and present, of ships and sailors, chiefly relating to the Port of Bristol. These facts are entered into the log-books of the society and due course recorded in the archives of Bristol". During the war, his father, Edgar Farr, acted as secretary to Bristol Shiplovers Society on his son's behalf. Farr also became a member of the

Society for Nautical Research The Society for Nautical Research is a British society that conducts research and sponsors projects related to maritime history worldwide. Founded in 1910, the Society initially encouraged research into seafaring, ship-building, the language and c ...

, continuing as a member for nearly 50 years. His earliest article for the Society's journal, ''

The Mariner's Mirror ''The Mariner's Mirror'' is the quarterly academic journal of the Society for Nautical Research in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1911 and is abstracted and indexed by Scopus. It is published in partnership with Taylor & Francis. The ''M ...

'', was about Brunel's Great Western, built in Bristol. It was published in 1938. Farr's earliest book was ''The Somersetshire Life-Boats'' (1935). Following the war, Farr wrote many books on

maritime history Maritime history is the study of human interaction with and activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant. As an academic subject, it ...

, specialising in the history of ships and shipping in the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

from the eighteenth century onwards. He wrote several monographs for the

. Farr also contributed articles to journals, including ''The Mariner's Mirror''. He was the first maritime historian to make intensive use of the Statutory Registers of Merchant Ships. Farr was the archivist of the Lifeboat Enthusiasts' Society. The Society was formed in 1964, with the active co-operation of the

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

, "to facilitate communication between persons interested in the technical and historical aspects of life-boat work". Farr was also the honorary editor of the ''International Lifeboat Journal'' between 1974 and 1983.

Death and legacy

Farr died on 22 November 1983, after a long struggle against deteriorating health and eyesight. His obituary in ''The Mariner's Mirror'' described him as "a remarkable man, assiduous and painstaking in his research, and yet ever-ready to share his knowledge with others".

Works

Works by Farr are variously catalogued under the names Grahame Edgar Farr, Grahame E. Farr, Grahame Farr, and G. E. Farr. The following lists are largely derived from the catalogue of the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

''Wreck and rescue'' series

*''Wreck and rescue round the Cornish coast. 1. The Story of the north coast Lifeboats.'' (With Cyril Noall.) Truro: D. Bradford Barton, 1964. *''Wreck and rescue round the Cornish coast. 2. The Story of the Land's End lifeboats.'' (With Cyril Noall.) Truro: D. Bradford Barton, 1965. *''Wreck and rescue round the Cornish coast. 3. The Story of the south coast lifeboats.'' (With Cyril Noall.) Truro: D. Bradford Barton, 1965. *''Wreck and rescue in the Bristol Channel. 1. The Story of the English Lifeboats.'' Truro: D. Bradford Barton, 1966. *''Wreck and rescue in the Bristol Channel. 2. The story of the Welsh lifeboats.'' Truro: D. Bradford Barton, 1967. *''Wreck and rescue on the coast of Devon. The Story of the South Devon Lifeboats.'' Truro: D. Bradford Barton, 1968. *''Wreck and rescue on the Dorset coast. The story of the Dorset lifeboats.'' Truro: D. Bradford Barton, 1971.

Papers on life-boat history

*No. 1: ''William Plenty's life boats, 1817-29: and James and Edward Pellew Plenty's life boat model, 1851.'' Portishead, 1975. *No. 2: ''George Palmer's life-boats, 1828-47: with allied types and variants.'' Portishead, 1975. *No. 3: ''Life-boats of the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners' Royal Benevolent Society, 1851-4.'' Portishead, 1976. *No. 4: ''The tubular life-boats, 1850-1939.'' Portishead, 1977. *No. 5: ''The steam life-boats: with notes on earlier projects, and overseas steam life-boats.'' Portishead, 1981. *No. 6: ''The Lincolnshire Coast Shipwreck Association 1827-1864.'' Portishead, 1981.

Aids to life-boat history

*No. 1: ''Hand-list of R.N.L.I. official numbers: and operational numbers.'' Portishead, 1978. 5th edition, 1993. *No. 2: ''British life-boat stations: a historical and geographical list.'' Portishead, 1979. 4th edition, 1993.

Maritime monographs and reports

*No. 20: ''The ship registers of the Port of Hayle, 1864-1882.'' Greenwich: National Maritime Museum, 1975. *No. 22: ''Shipbuilding in North Devon: containing a list of the vessels known to have been built on the North Devon coast and rivers, with an introduction, notes on the builders, appendices, tables and a map.'' Greenwich: National Maritime Museum, 1976.

Other books

*''The Somersetshire Life-Boats. A brief history of rescue work on the Somersetshire coast.'' Bristol, 1935.
''Records of Bristol Ships, 1800-1838. Vessels over 150 tons.'' Bristol, 1950.
*''Somerset Harbours, including the Port of Bristol.'' London, 1954. *''Chepstow Ships.'' Chepstow, 1954. *''West Country Passenger Steamers.'' London, 1956. Second edition, 1967. *''The Bristol Shiplovers' Society, 1931-1956.'' Bristol, 1957.
''The Steamship Great Western: the first Atlantic liner.'' Bristol, 1963.

''The Steamship Great Britain.'' Bristol, 1965.
*''West Country passenger steamers.'' Second edition. Prescot, 1967. *''Cornish shipwrecks.'' (With Cyril Noall.) Truro, 1969. *''Ships and Harbours of Exmoor (Microstudy).'' Dulverton, 1970. Second edition, 1974.
''Bristol shipbuilding in the nineteenth century.'' Bristol, 1971.
*''Penlee Lifeboat: History of the Penlee and Penzance Branch of the R.N.L.I.'' (With John Corin.) Penzance, 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farr, Grahame Farr, Grahame Farr, Grahame Farr, Grahame People from Clifton, Bristol British Army personnel of World War II Royal Army Service Corps officers