Biography of Horace Farquhar 1st Earl Farquhar 1844-1923

Paternal Family Tree: Farquhar

In 1835 [his father] Walter Townsend-Farquhar 2nd Baronet (age 25) and [his mother] Erica Catherine Mackay were married. They had five children.

On 19th May 1844 Horace Farquhar 1st Earl Farquhar was born to [his father] Walter Townsend-Farquhar 2nd Baronet (age 34) and [his mother] Erica Catherine Mackay.

On 18th June 1866 [his father] Walter Townsend-Farquhar 2nd Baronet (age 56) died. His son [his brother] Eric (age 30) succeeded 3rd Baronet Farquhar of Mauritius.

The London Gazette 26338. Whitehall, October 25, 1892. THE Queen has been pleased to direct Letters Patent to be passed under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, granting the dignity of a Baronet of the said United Kingdom unto Horace Brand Townsend-Farquhar (age 48), of Cavendish-square, in the parish of Saint Marylebone, in the county of London, Esq., and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten.

The London Gazette 26930. Whitehall, January 17, 1898. THE Queen has been pleased to direct Letters Patent to be passed under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, granting the dignily of a Baron of the said United Kingdom unto Sir Horace Brand Town send-Farquhar (age 53), Bart, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style, and title of Baron Farquhar, of Saint Marylcbone, in the county of London.

                    The London Gazette 27318. 28th May 1901. To be Knight Commanders.
                
                    Horace Brand Townsend (age 57), Lord Farquhar.
                
                    Frederick Treves, Esq., C.B.

The London Gazette 30150. Whitehall, June 26, 1917. The King, has been pleased, by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bear ing date the 21st instant, to confer the dignity of a Viscount of the said United Kingdom upon the Right Honourable Horace Brand (age 73), Baron Farquhar, GCVO, Lord Steward of the Household, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style and title of Viscount Farquhar, of Saint Marylebone, in the county of London.

        
                    The London Gazette 32776.  Whitehall, December 9, 1922. Letters Patent have passed the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland creating the undermentioned Earldoms, Viscountcies and Baronies:
                
                    The Right Honourable Frederick Edwin (age 50), Viscount Birkenhead, to be Viscount Furneaux, of Charlton, in the County of Northampton, and Earl Of Birkenhead. [Margaret Eleanor Furneaux Countess of Birkenhead (age 44) by marriage Countess Birkenhead.]
                
                    The Right Honourable Horace Brand (age 78), Viscount Farquhar, G.C.B., G.C.V.O., late Lord Steward of the Household, to be Earl Farquhar.
                
                    The Right Honourable Arthur Hamilton, Baron Lee of Fareham, G.B.E., K.C.B., to be Viscount Lee of Fareham, of Bridport, in the County of Dorset. 
                
                    William Hesketh (age 71), Baron Leverhulme, to be Viscount Leverhulme, of The Western Isles, in the Counties of Inverness and Ross and Cromarty.
                
                    The Right Honourable Francis Bingham Mildmay to be Baron Mildmay Of Flete, of Totnes, in the County of Devon.
                
                    The Right Honourable Sir Joseph Paton Maclay, Baronet, to be Baron Maclay, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark.
                
                    The Right Honourable Sir Edward Alfred Goulding, Baronet, to be Baron Wargrave, of Wargrave Hall, in the County of Berks. Sir John Henry Bethell, Baronet, to be BARON BETHELL, of Romford, in the County of Essex.

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Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes

Récits d’un bourgeois de Valenciennes aka The Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes is a vivid 14th-century vernacular chronicle written by an anonymous urban chronicler from Valenciennes in the County of Hainaut. It survives in a manuscript that describes local and regional history from about 1253 to 1366, blending chronology, narrative episodes, and eyewitness-style accounts of political, military, and social events in medieval France, Flanders, and the Low Countries. The work begins with a chronological framework of events affecting Valenciennes and its region under rulers such as King Philip VI of France and the shifting allegiances of local nobility. It includes accounts of conflicts, sieges, diplomatic manoeuvres, and the impact of broader struggles like the Hundred Years’ War on urban life in Hainaut. Written from the perspective of a burgher (bourgeois) rather than a monastery or royal court, the chronicle offers a rare lay viewpoint on high politics and warfare, reflecting how merchants, townspeople, and civic institutions experienced the turbulence of the 13th and 14th centuries. Its narrative style combines straightforward reporting of events with moral and civic observations, making it a valuable source for readers interested in medieval urban society, regional politics, and the lived experience of war and governance in pre-modern Europe.

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On 30th August 1923 Horace Farquhar 1st Earl Farquhar (age 79) died unmarried at his home 7 Grosvenor Square, Belgravia. Earl Farquhar, Viscount Farquhar of Saint Marylebone in London, Baron Farquhar of Saint Marylebone in London and Baronet Townsend-Farquhar of Cavendish Square in Saint Marylebone in London extinct. In his will he left many large legacies to his friends, including members of the Royal Family, but although his estate was assessed for probate at £400,000 the entire sum was taken up by debts, leaving nothing and revealing that Farquhar had been an undisclosed bankrupt.

Biography of Horace Farquhar 1st Earl Farquhar 1844-1923

Ancestors of Horace Farquhar 1st Earl Farquhar 1844-1923