John Farey Sr.

John Farey Sr. (1766 to 1826) was an English geologist and writer, best known for the Farey sequence, a mathematical construct that is named after him. He was born at Woburn in Bedfordshire, was educated at Halifax in Yorkshire, and showed such aptitude in mathematics, drawing and surveying that John Smeaton took notice of him. After working for some years in London he was appointed in 1792 as surveyor and land agent to Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford, for the Woburn estates, and in 1802 he settled in London as a consulting surveyor and geologist. His acquaintance with the geologist William Smith, whom he called his master and instructor in mineral surveying, shaped his later publications. In 1805 he succeeded the agriculturist Arthur Young as Secretary of the Smithfield Club, and his surveying work took him all over the country. He died in 1826.