As a leading member of the Acclimatisation Society, he stocked almost every lake and river in Canterbury with fish and was instrumental in introducing the bumblebee to New Zealand.

In 1849, Mary Ann Pavitt from Theydon Garnon visited friends in Baldock for a farewell, as she was to emigrate with her family to New Zealand.

The vessel drifted with the wind to the south of Stewart Island, and it took a fortnight to get a temporary rudder installed.

On 2 April 1850, The Monarch managed to reach Akaroa, and there 41 passengers, including Farr, decided to remain.

Farr made his own ring from a half-sovereign, and shortly afterwards the local magistrate, John Watson, was appointed Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

[1] Farr was impressed with the scenery around Akaroa:[3] The panoramic bird's eye view we had of the luxuriant and romantic country almost baffles description... Over the bay, the water without a ripple mirrored the forest covered mountains with their soft purple tints.

We were charmed with all we saw: the vegetation in its primeval beauty: almighty giants of the forest overshadowing dainty ferns and delicate mosses; rippling streamlets winding in sweet cadence amid the forest trees...About the time of his arrival the first English flourmill in Canterbury was erected in Akaroa's Grehan Valley.

[1] Charles Haylock, who had also come out on The Monarch with his wife and his four sons, cut the timber for the building and machinery, and formed a water race and an 18-feet overshot wheel.

Farr, having studied the theory of cog-wheels, volunteered his assistance, and re-constructed the wheels, with the result that within three weeks the mill was smoothly working.

[1] A residential building in Akaroa, Blythcliffe, is presumed to have been designed by Farr for Augustus White based on drawings prepared by the Australian architect John Verge.

Four architects were invited to provide designs for a new building: Farr, Benjamin Mountfort, William Armson and Robert Lawson.

[27] Four separate NZHPT registrations cover various buildings of the station, designed to give expression to his wealth.

The first opened in 1857 to a design by Benjamin Mountfort and Isaac Luck on the south-west side of High Street in the section between Lichfield and Cashel.

Farr's design was in stone and suffered damage in the 1869 Christchurch earthquake, with the architect blamed for these structural problems, which caused the low point of his career.

[33] William Armson, Benjamin Mountfort, Alexander Lean and Frederick Strouts formed the Canterbury Association of Architects in the 1870s and denied membership to Farr due to his lack of formal training.

For 22 years, he was secretary of the Acclimatisation Society, during which time he stocked almost every lake and river in Canterbury with fish.

Other successful candidates at that election were John Ollivier, Edward Bishop (a later Mayor of Christchurch), Isaac Luck and W. H.