Nicholas Ferrar

Nicholas Ferrar was an English scholar, courtier, businessman and man of religion. Ordained as a deacon in the Church of England and having lost much of the family fortune in the Virginia Company, he retreated with his extended family in 1626 to the manor of Little Gidding in Huntingdonshire. There he lived for his remaining years in an informal spiritual community, following High Anglican practice.

Nicholas Ferrar was born in London, the third son and fifth child of Nicholas Ferrar and his wife Mary . At the age of four he was sent to a nearby school, and is said to have been reading perfectly by the age of five. He was confirmed by the Bishop of London in 1598, contriving to have the bishop lay hands on him twice. In 1600 he was sent away to boarding school in Berkshire, and in 1605, aged 13, he entered Clare Hall, Cambridge. He was elected a fellowcommoner at the end of his first year, took his B.A. in 1610 and elected a fellow the following year. He first met George Herbert, known as a metaphysical poet, as a Cambridge undergraduate. Ferrar suffered from poor health and was advised to travel to continental Europe, and away from the damp air of Cambridge.

Source: Wikipedia