Oliver Thomas Farrer, 4th Baron Farrer (5 October 1904 – 24 January 1954) was a British peer.

Background

He was born in 1904, the second son of

Thomas Farrer, 2nd Baron Farrer Thomas Cecil Farrer, 2nd Baron Farrer (25 October 1859 – 12 April 1940), was the second Baron Farrer. He was the eldest son of Thomas Farrer, 1st Baron Farrer, and his first wife Frances Erskine. Life Farrer was a long-term member of the boar ...

, and the first by his second wife Evangeline (née Knox), daughter of Octavius Newry Knox JP (son of The Hon. John Henry Knox, son of

Thomas Knox, 1st Earl of Ranfurly Thomas Knox, 1st Earl of Ranfurly (5 August 1754 – 26 April 1840), styled The Honourable Thomas Knox between 1781 and 1818 and known as The Viscount Northland between 1818 and 1831, was an Irish peer and politician. Early life Ranfurly was th ...

Life

He was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

(BA 1925). During the Second World War he served as an officer in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, reaching the rank of

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

. He was a county councillor on

Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England. The council was created in 1889. It is responsible for a wide range of public services in the county, including social c ...

and was appointed to be a Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire in 1951 and a justice of the peace. In 1948 Farrer succeeded his half-brother in the title; upon his own death in 1954, the Barony passed to their cousin, Anthony Farrer, 5th Baron Farrer, before becoming extinct.

Marriage

In 1931 he married Katharine Runciman, youngest daughter of

Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford, (19 November 1870 – 14 November 1949), was a prominent Liberal and later National Liberal politician in the United Kingdom. His 1938 diplomatic mission to Czechoslovakia was key to th ...

. They had no children.

References

* 'FARRER', ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 200
accessed 20 May 2011
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom 1904 births 1954 deaths People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of Hertfordshire County Council Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Deputy lieutenants of Hertfordshire English justices of the peace {{UK-baron-stub