Nicholas Ferrar

Nicholas Ferrar (born Feb. 22, 1592, London, Eng.—died Dec. 4, 1637, Little Gidding, near Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire) was an Anglican clergyman, founder and director of a celebrated Christian community devoted to spiritual discipline and social service. Ferrar was also a friend of the English devotional poet George Herbert and brought Herbert’s poetry to public attention.

After studying medicine in continental Europe, Ferrar returned to England and was elected (1624) a member of the British Parliament. He soon tired of controversy, however, and turned to a religious vocation; he was ordained a deacon in the Church of England in 1626. Declaring a desire to serve God, he then moved with various members of his family to the remote manor house of Little Gidding, where a school was established for his household of some 30 persons and for neighbouring children. The community mastered assorted crafts, including needlework and bookbinding. Believing that every hour of the day must be spent in a useful and an edifying manner, Ferrar devised a set of rules for the community’s religious discipline.

On his deathbed Herbert asked Ferrar to destroy his manuscript poems or have them published. Ferrar made the decision to publish, writing the preface for the first edition of The Temple (1633). He also wrote a series of books attempting to harmonize the Gospels. Charles I, who held Ferrar in great esteem, visited Little Gidding three times. After Ferrar’s death the community continued to observe the “rule of Little Gidding” for 20 years.