George Herbert Farrar
 Memorial to GH Farrar and others that died in the Great War. Kensing War memorial, Johannesburg.
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Sir George Herbert Farrar, 1st Baronet, DSO (17 June 1859 Chatteris, Cambridgeshire – 20 May 1915 Kuibis, South West Africa, was a South African mining magnate, politician and soldier – Colonel and assistant Quartermaster General – Central Force, Union Defence Force, Hon. Colonel South African Light Horse.
Son of Charles Farrar, a Chatteris medical doctor and Helen Howard, the daughter of John Howard of Cauldwell House Bedford and sister of Sir Frederick Howard of Bedford and James Howard MP of Bedford. George Herbert Farrar was educated at Bedford Modern School after which he joined Howard, Farrar & Co., the engineering business of his uncle, Sir Frederick Howard, travelling to South Africa in 1879 to work at the firm's branches in Port Elizabeth and East London.
In 1887, shortly after the discovery of gold on the Reef, he and his brothers established themselves in Johannesburg. Here he became one of the leading figures in the mining sector on the East Rand. His main creation was forming the East Rand Proprietary Mines (ERPM), remaining chairman of the company throughout his life. In 1893 Farrar sold 1,300 claims to the ERPM and received ERPM shares to the value of £705,000 for his claims in the south of Boksburg, excluding Boksburg Lake. Farrar later received further ERPM shares for his claims over Boksburg Lake, and became effectively the controlling shareholder of the ERPM. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Transvaal and Leader of the Opposition. For his part in the Jameson Raid he was sentenced to hang, but the sentence was commuted to a fine of £25,000, paid by cheque by Farrar's brother Sydney.
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