Peter Farquhar

Manchester Grammar School

Peter Farquhar was born in Edinburgh on 3 January 1946, the son of a physician. He was educated at Latymer Upper School in London and then Churchill College, Cambridge, where he achieved a first-class degree in English.[1]

Stowe School

Farquhar was a teacher of English for 34 years, firstly at the Manchester Grammar School (1970–82) and then Stowe School (1983–2004). From 2007 he was an occasional lecturer at University of Buckingham. He was described by his friend and former pupil at Manchester, Michael Crick, as having "an acute understanding of the problems of modern adolescent boys. For some, he became almost like a second father."[1]

His first novel, A Wide Wide Sea, a coming-of-age story about three teenagers from Edinburgh who travel to France and Spain on a voyage of self-discovery, was written in 1997 but not published until 2015. It was published only after two Buckingham students, Ben Field (who later murdered Farquhar) and Martyn Smith, discovered the manuscript and persuaded Farquhar to submit it for publication.[2] His novel, Between Boy and Man, was published in 2010. The plot was largely based on Farquhar's own experience at Stowe and concerned the struggle of a school chaplain to reconcile his Christian faith with his homosexuality.[1]

The character of Dr Farquhar, played by Toby Stephens in the 2013 film Believe, directed by the former Manchester Grammar School pupil David Scheinmann, was partly based on Farquhar.[1]

St Mary's Church in Stowe, where Farquhar worshipped and preached.

Farquhar was an evangelical Christian who was a lay minister, and once considered seeking ordination. He worshipped and preached at Stowe Parish Church for 20 years.[1]

Farquhar died in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire, on 26 October 2015. His death was initially recorded as "accidental" as the result of acute alcohol ingestion.[3] He was engaged to his former student Ben Field in 2015[4] and was survived by his brother, Ian.[1] In January 2018, Field and his friend Martyn Smith were arrested by police on suspicion of murdering Farquhar and attempting to murder his neighbour Ann Moore-Martin, 83.[5][6][7][8] During his trial at Oxford Crown Court, Field admitted drugging Farquhar with benzodiazepines and hallucinogens to "torment" him, telling the jury that he did it "for no other reason other than it was cruel, to upset and torment Peter – purely out of meanness". He also spiked his drink with bioethanol and poteen in order to make him question his sanity. According to prosecutors, Field suffocated Farquhar when he was too weak to resist.[5]

On 9 August 2019, Field was convicted of Farquhar's murder,[9] but acquitted of the attempted murder of Moore-Martin.[5] Smith was acquitted of all charges.[5] On 19 October 2019, Field was sentenced to life imprisonment,[10] with a minimum of 36 years.[11] He lost two separate appeals against the conviction.[12][13]

• Between Boy and Man. AuthorHouse, 2010. ISBN 978-1452039312
• A Bitter Heart. AuthorHouse, 2012. ISBN 978-1477223451
• A Wide Wide Sea. Farquhar Studies, 2015. ISBN 978-1326343385

"A Diary From the Grave", a documentary about the murders, aired in January 2020 on Channel 4 as part of the Catching a Killer series.[14]

Farquhar was depicted by Timothy Spall in the 2023 BBC One drama The Sixth Commandment written by Sarah Phelps about the gaslighting of Farquhar and Moore-Martin by Field, and Farquhar's murder by Field.[15] The series aired in July 2023.[16][17]