Farrar was a schoolmaster, author, highly acclaimed religious lecturer, and honorary chaplain to Queen Victoria. In 1876 he was appointed by Prime Minister Disraeli as canon of Westminster Abbey and rector of St Margaret’s, where his brilliant preaching drew great crowds. His numerous publications included commentaries for the Expositor’s Bible and the Cambridge Bible, the Life and Works of St Paul, The Bible: Its Meaning and Supremacy, and many others. Farrar, a member of the Royal Society, preached at the funeral of Charles Darwin in 1882.