The Future of Our Past Council of Nova Scotia Archives

Yarmouth County Museum Archives

Henry Greggs Farish was born in Brooklyn, New York on 18 June 1781. Henry studied medicine, and following his apprenticeship with a Dr. Perry who was a family friend, he secured an appointment as Surgeon Assistant on board the HMS Asia and HMS Cleopatra and saw action during the Anglo-French War. In 1803 Dr. Farish established a medical practice in Yarmouth where he held many public offices including Collector of Excise, Registrar of Deeds, Land Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace. He was also appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and Postmaster for Yarmouth. He married the daughter of another Yarmouth doctor, Dr. Bond. Farish died at Yarmouth on 1 April 1856. Three of Farish's sons also became medical doctors and the Yarmouth County Museum Archives has an extensive collection of the family's medical practice records from the 19th and 20th centuries.

"Common Place Book" 1799-1815 He began it in 1799 while serving the Royal Navy as a surgeon on board HMS Cleopatra. It contains passages from the Bible, prayers, notes on history and astronomy, poems, notes on the Anglo-French War (prior battles), and notes on battles he was involved in. Beginning in 1803, as he established his Yarmouth medical practice, he used the book to record medical information and even to record the daily weather in Yarmouth. Continue Search for records of Dr. Farish or the Farish family on ArchWay. Return to Yarmouth County Museum Archives.