Ernest Farrar

Timelines: Ribbon of Remembrance Ernest Farrar
Announcement Date: October 26, 2018

Judith Farrar told us the story of Ernest Holdsworth Farrar, the Great Uncle of her husband, Don.

Ernest Farrar was born in 1882 in Leeds, after a spell at Teacher Training College in Isleworth, Middlesex he went on to study at Trinity College, Cambridge. He attained both a BA and BSc. After his graduation, Ernest spent some time in Dresden in Germany, and while the reasons for this sojourn are no longer known, it is highly likely that he continued as an academic at the University of Dresden.

On his return to England Ernest was appointed to the Headship at Todmorden Secondary School. This important work continued after the outbreak of the First World War, but with the introduction of conscription in January 1916, Ernest was compelled to face several Tribunals when it was insisted that he enlist. The School Governors tried to intervene and to keep him as Headmaster, but he was sentenced to 6 months in Wormwood Scrubs prison. After an unsuccessful appeal, Ernest was sentenced by the Central London Tribunal to 6 months in Dartmoor Prison in 1917. His reasons for refusing to fight are given in the extract from the Yorkshire Post.

 

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    Florence was born on the 19th of October 1899 in Boxted, Essex, United Kingdom to Ellen Biggs and Henry Ernest Biggs. She enrolled as a VAD clerk for the British Red Cross and was stationed at the Military Hospital Catterick Camp. ‘Biggsie’, as she was known by her friends and fellow VAD workers, spent approximately a year at Catterick Camp. Stationed from 15th January 1918 until the 11th of February 1919 when she returned to Essex as a VAD G/S Clerk in the British Red Cross, Sobraon Military Hospital, Colchester. Florence Hilda Lily Biggs died in Essex, United Kingdom in 1984. This information, provided by Alathea Anderssohn has been drawn from the Imperial War Museum’s ‘Lives of the First World War’ archive.

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  • Alfred W Salmon

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