He was educated at the City of London School and Exeter College, Oxford, where he graduated with a first class degree in Literae Humaniores in 1878.

Between 1880 and 1893, Farnell made a series of tours of Europe, studying classical archaeology in Berlin and Munich, as well as travelling in Asia Minor and Greece.

He also received honorary degrees from the universities of Dublin (Ireland), St Andrews (Scotland) and Geneva (Switzerland).

From 1896, Farnell published many books,[3] including: He delivered the following Gifford Lectures:[1] In 1893, Farnell married Sylvia (born 1872), youngest daughter of Captain Christopher Baldock Cardew of East Liss, Hampshire, and granddaughter of the Lord Chancellor Richard Bethell, 1st Baron Westbury.

The inscription read, "In memoriam fratris dilectissimi et nuper amissi, which means, "In memory of a most beloved and recently lost brother".