BENJAMIN FARRE

BENJAMIN FARRE (eighth child and seventh son of John Richard and Ann Elizabeth Farre ) was born at Pentonville, London at 10.30 in the evening of the 9th March, 1816.

He was named on the night of his mother's funeral,the 10th May, 1816,by the Reverend Mr. Sheppard, who also christened him in Saint James's Church, Clerkenwell, London on Whit Sunday, the 3rd Jun e , 1816.

He joined the British East India Company, in 1842 , whilst serving as Purser in their ship "PLUTO", he was involved in the first of the Opium Wars which was fought from the 5th July, 1840 to the 29th August, 1842 between Britain and China because the latter refused to allow the importation of opium from India.

He received the First China War Medal, which was awarded to all ranks who had taken part in the capture on the 5th July, 1840 of the island of Chou-shan (also known as Chusan) off the mouth of China's largest river, the Yangtze. The campaign also covered the operations in the Canton River during 1841 and the capture of Nanking the 29th August, 1842.

It has not been possible to establish which of the above phases Benjamin. Farre was involved in.

Benjamin Farre, who was a clever draughtsman and lithographer, died unmarried on 7th September, 1872 at Bathurst in the District of Bathurst - Australia.

At the time of his death he was the Postmaster at the Sydney Road PO in Meadow Flat in the colony of New South Wales. Meadow Flat is situated 98 miles west of Sydney; Cobb & Co. transported the mail to and from Sydney most days.

Whilst no record of a burial has been found, the registration number for his death is 3109/1872 and his age is given as 60 years. Noting firstly, his age appears to be incorrect and secondly, there is no record of an interment or obituary, it may be he was a private man whose family was unknown to others. Should this be the case, he may have been buried as a pauper or in an unmarked grave as was the custom of the day.

Compiled by Edna Clare Sparkman, East London, South Africa - 15 May 1985

Expanded by Pamela Hore, Blackburn South, Victoria, Australia - 22nd March 2014