FENTON, FERRAR: Church of England layman; b. at Waltham (18 m. s.e. of Hull), Lincolnshire, Dec. 4, 1832. He was educated privately, and until the age of twenty-eight lived the life of a student. Financial reverses then compelled him to become an operator in a factory, where he eventually rose to be manager and overseer. He undertook various commercial enterprises, and amassed a fortune as the promoter of the De Beers Company for the development of the South African diamond mines after the panic of 1882, but in 1893 lost heavily through the dishonesty of a legal adviser. Since then, however, he has recovered much of his wealth. In theology he holds to the authenticity and divine origin of the Bible, and regards "the so-called 'higher criticism' as either wild delusion or deliberate swindle." He has a knowledge of many languages and has written various pamphlets, linguistic works, and biographies, but his chief work is his Bible in Modern English with Critical Notes (London, 1903; published first in parts, 1883-1903), an independent translation from the original languages.