[1] He studied Hebrew and theology, and was elected regent in 1590, in which capacity he graduated a class of nineteen on 12 August 1593, and another of thirty-five on 30 July 1597.
He accepted the charge of Philorth, Aberdeenshire, incorporated in 1613 under the name of Fraserburgh, the intention of the patron, Sir Alexander Fraser (d. 1623), being that Ferm should be the head of a university which he had established.
Fraser had obtained a royal grant (1 July 1592), confirming his possession of the lands of Philorth, and giving him powers to erect and endow a college and university.
The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1597 sanctioned the appointment of Ferm as principal; but it appears that he expected to resign his pastoral charge.
On 21 March 1600, Fraser having 'refusit to intertaine a Pastour ... vnlesse he vndertake both the said charges', the assembly enjoined Ferm to fill both offices.
[7] He was a delegate to the General Assembly which met at Aberdeen on 2 July, and was about to hold proceedings, contrary to the king's injunction.
[14] He died on 24 September 1617, aged 51; his gravestone is still visible on the site of the old church of Philorth, in the Kirkton Cemetery in Fraserburgh.
She was born in November 1606, probably in Aberdeen, since she was christened in St Nicholas Church there (information from Scotland's People archival records).
After Ferm's death, it is likely that both widow and daughter moved to Tain; Agnes married a merchant there, Andrew McCulloch of Glastullich, who subsequently became an MP in the Scottish Parliament.
The 'Analysis Logica in Epistolam Apostoli Pauli ad Romanos, &c.' ('Logical Analysis of the Epistle of Paul to the Romans'), Edinburgh, 1651, 8vo, is all that remains of Ferm's work.