John Fairbairn (educator)

Infobox Writer
name = John Fairbairn

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caption =Bust in foyer of Fairbairn College
birthdate = birth date|1794|4|9|df=y
birthplace = Roxburghshire, Scotland
deathdate = death date and age|1864|10|5|1794|4|9|df=y
deathplace = Cape Town, Cape Colony
occupation = Teacher, newspaper proprietor, politician and financier

John Fairbairn (9 April 1794 – 5 October 1864) was a newspaper propietor, educator, financier and politician. According to the Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, “The embryo of the State education system we know today, trial by jury, the principle of the mutual life assurance company – all these were fruits of his endeavours at the Cape”. [Potgieter D.J., Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Nasionale Opvoedkundige Uitgewery Ltd, Cape Town, 1971]

Early life

John Fairbairn was born in Carolside Mill in the Parish of Legerwood, Berwickshire, Scotland on 9 April 1794, the son of James Fairbairn and Agnes Black. [ Botha H.C. JOHN FAIRBAIRN IN SOUTH AFRICA, 336pp.,hardback, d.w., No. 5, Cape Town, 1984.]

He attended the University of Edinburgh where he studied Medicine “acquiring at the same time a more than passing knowledge of classical languages and mathematics”.“The Argus” Friday July 31, 1959] In 1818, however, he turned to education, and for more than 5 years taught at Bruce’s Academy in Newcastle upon Tyne. Here he also joined the Literary and Philosophical Society.

In 1822, Thomas Pringle persuaded him to emigrate to Cape Town, promising a literary and teaching career in the recently annexed Cape Colony.

Fairbairn arrived in Table Bay on 11 October 1823 aboard the brig Mary.

Family life

Fairbairn married Elizabeth (Eliza) Philip, daughter of John Philip on 24 May 1831.

Five children were born to Fairbairn and Eliza.
*Jane Agnes b.1832. m. F.S. Watermeyer
*John Philip b.1834. Drowned in the Gamtoos River near Hankey in the Eastern Cape on 1 July 1845
*James Alexander b.1836. m. Kate Lamb
**John b. 1863. m. Winifred Difford d. 12 November 1925. Buried in St. Saviour's Church Cemetery, Claremont, Cape Town [ [http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm30ddf0?20080728160105EC6C4C8E National Archives] ]
***John b.1912. m. Rozanne Robinson. Annexed Marion Island for South Africa in 1947 during Operation Snoektown
*Elizabeth Ann Wills (Eliza) b. 1838.
*May Emma b. and d. 1840.

Fairbairn’s wife, Eliza, died on 30 May 1840, four days after the birth of May Emma, at the age of twenty-eight.

As a widower, Fairbairn was responsible for the education of his children. Jane and Eliza were sent to a private school in Claremont, Mrs Rose’s School for Ladies.

The convict ship

The British Government made an attempt in 1849 to form a penal settlement at the Cape, but when the ship Neptune arrived at Simon's Bay, with 282 convicts aboard, the citizens declined to supply anything to persons having dealings with her. So strictly was this pledge observed that no food whatever was obtainable, either for the convicts or for the troops. During the riots which ensued, Newspaper Editor, John Fairbairn's house at Sea Point was wrecked by a crowd who had lost their employment through the boycott. In the end the colonists were victorious, and on 21 February 1850, the Neptune set sail for Tasmania. [ [http://www.cape-town.net/html/history2.htm Nelson’s Guides] ]

Recognition

“Few men could have lived lives as full of worthwhile activity as John Fairbairn did. Few men could have got so little recognition from history”.

When an English-medium co-educational high school was established in Goodwood, Cape Town in 1977, the School Governing Body decided to name it Fairbairn College. [Fairbairn College archives]

Fairbairn Capital is an investment company within the Old Mutual group of companies. It was named after the founder of Old Mutual, John Fairbairn. According to the Fairbairn Capital website, in naming it Fairbairn Capital, “we recognise his contributions, draw on his heritage and laud his values”. [ [http://www.fairbairncapital.com/content/public/business/company/heritage.asp?m Fairbairn Capital] ]

Old Mutual International is based in Fairbairn House in St Peter Port on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. [ [http://www.oldmutual.com/services/contacts_global.jsp Old Mutual] ]

On 24 August 1994, the John Fairbairn boardroom was opened at the South African Chamber of Business parliamentary information centre in Cape Town by SA Chamber of Business director-general Mr Raymond Parsons. The boardroom together with the Rainbow Room was sponsored by Shell SA and Old Mutual and is used for meetings of businessmen and politicians. [ [http://70.84.171.10/~etools/newsbrief/1994/news0830 SACOB Newsletter] ]

Death

Fairbairn died suddenly in Cape Town on 5 October 1864 at the Wynberg home of his son-in-law, advocate F.S. Watermeyer, and was buried in the Somerset Road cemetery in Cape Town. [Trapido Stanley, ‘Fairbairn, John (1794–1864)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2006]

Descendants

In 1947 the British Government decided to give Marion Island and Prince Edward Island to South Africa, in order to prevent them falling into hostile hands. HMSAS Transvaal was despatched in great secrecy, and on 4 January 1948, Lieutenant Commander John Fairbairn, great grandson of John Fairbairn, landed on Prince Edward Island and claimed the islands for South Africa. [ [http://www.btinternet.com/~sa_sa/marion_island/marion_island_history.html Marion Island] ] The meteorological station is known as Fairbairn Settlement and is on Transvaal Cove.

In 2007, Fairbairn's great great great granddaughter, Tessa Fairbairn, was awarded the Order of Simon of Cyrene. She was the head of St. Cyprian's School, a progressive girls’ boarding and day school in Cape Town, South Africa for 17 years. [ [http://www.kingsacademy.edu.jo/default.asp?contentID=597 King's Academy Jordan] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.fairbairncapital.com/Content/public/default.asp Fairbairn Capital website]
* [http://www.oldmutual.com Official Old Mutual website]
* [http://www.fbc.wcape.school.za Fairbain College website]