Farrer was born in London, his parents were Rev. Matthew Thomas Farrer and Mary Louisa Anson.^[1] He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford and worked as a barrister. He lived in Ingleborough and married Elizabeth Georgiana Anne in 1877.^[2]

He also worked as a JP in Westmorland.^[2]

• Primitive Manners and Customs (1879)
• Zululand and the Zulus (1879)
• Crimes And Punishments (1880)
• Military Manners and Customs (1885)
• Paganism and Christianity (1891)
• Books Condemned to be Burnt (1892)
• Literary Forgeries (1907) [with an introduction by Andrew Lang]
• The Monarchy in Politics (1917)
• The War for Monarchy, 1793-1815 (1920)
• England Under Edward VII (1922)

• High Sheriff of Yorkshire

• Works by James Anson Farrer at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about James Anson Farrer at Internet Archive