Charles Ferme (1565 or 6-1617)

Charles Ferme (1565 or 6-1617) began work as Regent to the First Year (or 'Bajan') class at Edinburgh University in October 1589. An Edinburgh native, he had himself been one of the University's first graduates in 1587, having studied under Robert Rollock (1555-1599). Under the regenting system, Ferme remained with the 1589 intake throughout their four-year Master of Arts degree, tutoring them in all subjects. When his class graduated on 12 August 1593, he resumed the regenting cycle taking a second class through to graduation on 30 July 1597. Among the pupils in this second class was John Adamson (1576–1651?), future Principal of Edinburgh University.

Ferme left Edinburgh University in 1598 and became Minister of Philorth, Aberdeenshire. At the invitation of Sir Alexander Fraser, he became Principal of Fraserburgh University in 1600. Ferme denounced the restitution of the episcopacy in that same year, and was imprisoned on a number of occasions. He was eventually restored to his parish and to the principalship in 1609. He died on 24 September 1617.

Archives at Edinburgh University

• Signatures, August 1587 (as student), 12 August 1593, 30 July 1597 (as regent), First Laureation & Degrees Album, Edinburgh University Archives (EUA IN1/ADS/STA/1/1)

Sources

• Alexander Gordon, 'Charles Ferme', in Dictionary of National Biography (London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900) [[1], accessed 9 May 2014]
• Sir Alexander Grant, The Story of the University of Edinburgh during its First Three Hundred Years, 2 vols (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1884)