William Farrar (settler)

William Farrar (April 1583 – c. 1637) was a planter, lawyer, real estate investor and politician in colonial Virginia who served on the Virginia Governor's Council. A subscriber to the third charter of the Virginia Company, Farrar immigrated to the colony from England in 1618. After surviving the Jamestown massacre of 1622, Farrar moved to Jordan's Journey. In the following year, Farrar became involved in North America's first breach of promise case when he proposed to Samuel Jordan's widow, Cecily, who was allegedly engaged to another man. In 1624, the case was dropped, and Farrar and Cecily married.

In March 1626, Farrar was appointed to the Council of Virginia where he advised the royal governor of Colonial Jamestown. Later that year he was named a commissioner (i.e., magistrate) for the monthly courts of the colony's "upper parts", with jurisdiction over Charles City and the City of Henrico. In these roles, Farrar voiced the early planters' interest as the colony transitioned from being managed by the Virginia Company and became a royal colony under Charles I of England.

Farrar was also on the Council when it arrested Governor John Harvey for misgovernance and forced his temporary return to England. By the time of his death around 1637, Farrar had sold off his remaining assets in England and established rights to a 2000 acre patent on Farrar's Island, located on a curl of the James River, which was claimed by his son William Farrar Jr.