Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Fairfax, John (1804-1877)
FAIRFAX, JOHN (1804–1877), journalist and member of the legislative council, New South Wales, was born at Warwick, England, in 1804. After a short time spent at school he was, at the age of twelve, apprenticed to a printer in his native town. Having served his time he went to London and worked for some years on the ‘Morning Chronicle’ newspaper. His next step was to set up as printer and bookseller in Leamington, near his home and friends. He also started a newspaper, and, having married, settled down as a leading member of the congregational body in that town. Business prospered for a while, but his newspaper brought him into trouble, for, in consequence of some strictures on a public officer, he was prosecuted for libel, and, though the decision was in his favour, the costs were more than he could then pay. He emigrated with his young family, and on 26 Sept. 1838 he accepted the office of librarian to the Australian Subscription Library in Sydney. Ere long he was engaged by Mr. Stokes, the proprietor of the ‘Sydney Morning Herald,’ then a bi-weekly paper, to assist in the work of editing and publishing. In 1841, in conjunction with Mr. Charles Kemp, and aided by many friends whose confidence he had gained, he took the bold step of buying the ‘Herald’ of Mr. Stokes. Converted into a daily morning paper, the ‘Herald’ soon became and still remains the leading journal of Eastern Australia. In 1851 Fairfax visited England, where his first care was to pay off all debts that he had left unpaid in Leamington thirteen years before. Returning to Sydney in 1853 with large additions to his knowledge of printing processes and newspaper work, he bought out his friend and partner, Mr. C. Welch, and became sole proprietor of the ‘Sydney Herald.’ He afterwards made his sons his partners. A second visit to England (in 1863) enabled him still further to develope his now large establishment in Sydney.
He took an active part in the various enterprises of his time, both benevolent and practical, had a large share in the establishment and management of the Australian Mutual Provident Society, and remained always a most useful member of the congregational body. Only once he presented himself as a candidate for the legislative assembly, when he was defeated. In 1870 he became a member of the council of education, and in 1874 he was appointed a member of the legislative council. This honour he enjoyed for only three years, dying at his residence, Ginahgulla, near Rose Bay, Port Jackson, on 16 June 1877, aged 73. He published in pamphlet form the substance of a lecture, delivered in the music hall, Leamington, on ‘The Colonies of Australia, their Formation, Progress, and Present State; the Discovery of the Gold Fields,’ &c., 2nd edit. 8vo, Lond. [1852].
[Heaton's Australian Dictionary of Dates and Men of the Time; Melbourne Argus, 18 June 1877.]