File - 31 (26) 4 - Francis Douglas Farquhar

Lieut-Col Francis Douglas Farquhar, DSO A Memorial by RG Barclay Biography - Origin unknown Lt Col Francis Farquhar by Lt Col Hugh Niven Farquhar, Francis D Officer's Service Record Coldstream Guards Lt. Col Francis Farquhar tribute article from a brother officer

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

31 (26) 4 - Francis Douglas Farquhar

General material designation

  • Textual record

Parallel title

Other title information

Title statements of responsibility

Title notes

  • Attributions and conjectures: Francis D. Farquhar, DSO, was born on 17 September 1874 in England. Educated at Eton, he joined the Coldstream Guards as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1896, and he soon saw action in the Boer War in South Africa 1899-1900. He was promoted Captain and posted to the ‘Weihaiwei’ Chinese Regiment of Infantry in 1901 where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, and he served in Somaliland in 1903-1904. In 1905 he married Lady Evelyn Hely Hutchison. In 1914, now as an acting Lieutenant-Colonel (Lt. Col.), he was serving as Military Secretary to the Governor General of Canada, The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn when World War One broke out. Farquhar, with Andrew Hamilton Gault, a wealthy Montreal businessman, approached the Canadian government with an offer to found a regiment of veteran soldiers for quick service on the front. This regiment became Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, raised in Ottawa in August 1914 from volunteers from across Canada. Lt.-Col. Farquhar agreed to become the unit’s first Commanding Officer, and the Regiment sailed for England in October 1914. He was officially appointed Lieutenant-Colonel 14 October 1914. Lt.-Col. Farquhar led the Regiment thorough its introduction to trench warfare in Belgium in 1915. On the night of 19-20 March 1915, while supervising wire-laying and a relief in place, Lt.-Col. Farquhar was shot and died soon after. Although his tenure as CO was short-lived, he is given great credit for establishing the professionalism and sense of duty within the Regiment, and contributed greatly to its fighting spirit. Ralph Hodder-Williams, who wrote the official history of PPCLI in World War One, wrote of Farquhar: “His choice was to lead [PPCLI] in the field rather than to accept such higher rank and command as he was entitled to by virtue of his ability and experience; and though he did not gather more than the first-fruits of his sowing and never saw the Regiment justify his methods in a general action, his example abode in regimental tradition as something living and very influential.”

Level of description

File

Reference code

Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

Statement of projection (cartographic)

Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1914-1961 (Creation)

Physical description area

Physical description

1.5 cm of textual records

Publisher's series area

Title proper of publisher's series

Parallel titles of publisher's series

Other title information of publisher's series

Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series

Numbering within publisher's series

Note on publisher's series

Archival description area

Custodial history

Scope and content

Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Farquhar's record of service with the Coldstream Guards, memorials written by Lieutenant-Colonel hugh Niven and RG Barclay, and a very brief biography of unknown origin.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Arrangement

Language of material

Script of material

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Restrictions on access

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Finding aids

Associated materials

Related materials

Accruals

Alternative identifier(s)

Standard number area

Standard number

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Control area

Description record identifier

Institution identifier

Rules or conventions

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

Language of description

Script of description

Sources

Accession area

Related subjects

Related people and organizations

Related places

Related genres