John Fairfax
Encyclopedia
John Fairfax English-born journalist, is notable for the incorporation of the major newspaper
s of modern day Australia
.
, the second son of William Fairfax and his wife, Elizabeth née Jesson. The Fairfax family for many years were lords of the manor of Barford, but estates had been lost and William Fairfax at the time of John's birth was in the building and furnishing trade. In 1817 John Fairfax was apprenticed to William Perry, a bookseller and printer in Warwick, and in 1825 went to London where he worked as a compositor in a general printing office and on the Morning Chronicle
. A year or two later he established himself at Leamington Hastings
as a printer, bookseller and stationer. There, on 31 July 1827, he married Sarah Reading, daughter of James and Sarah Reading. He became the printer of the Leamington Spa Courier, and in 1835 he purchased an interest in another paper The Leamington Chronicle and Warwickshire Reporter. He had a book binding business in Leamington. At this time Leamington was one of the leading spa town
s in the UK.
In 1836 Fairfax published a letter criticizing the conduct of a local solicitor, who brought an action against him. Though judgment was given for the defendant, the solicitor appealed. Judgment was again given for Fairfax but the costs of the actions were so heavy that he had to apply to the Insolvency Court. There was sympathy for him, his friends offered assistance but he decided to make a fresh start in a new land, and in May 1838 sailed for the colony of New South Wales
in the Lady Fitzherbert with his wife and three children, his mother and a brother-in-law. After a voyage of about 130 days, they reached Sydney
on 26 September 1838; Fairfax had just £5 in his pocket.
, Charles Kemp, with whom he joined forces to purchase the Herald for the sum of £10,000.
, was established, its first number was published on 7 July 1860, and it continued to appear until 1938.
in 1874 but never took an active part in politics.
His wife, Sarah, died on 12 August 1875 and soon afterwards his own health began to fail. He died at his home 'Ginahgulla', Bellevue Hill
on 16 June 1877. He was buried at the Rookwood Cemetery
, Independent Section, on 19 June 1877.
. But his paper was kept free from religious bias, and was in no way responsible for the strong sectarian feelings which then existed in Sydney. His household was typically Victorian in its outlook, but in the newspaper due importance was given to music and the theatre, literature and art. To Fairfax the conduct of the press was a sacred trust and he never betrayed this. Of his children, his second son, Sir James Reading Fairfax (1834–1919), entered his father's office in 1852 and was admitted as a partner in 1856. When his father died he was in control of the paper, and in his hands it went from strength to strength. Fairfax was intimately associated with it for 67 years. In 1851 Faifax was a foundation director of the Australian Mutual Provident Society, and in the 1860s a director of the Sydney Insurance Co., the New South Wales Marine Insurance Co., the Australian Joint Stock Bank and the Australian Gaslight Co. and a trustee of the Savings Bank of New South Wales. Like his father, Fairfax was a religious man, and for a long period was president of the YMCA
, and he did much for other social services of the community. He died on 28 March 1919 and was buried in the Congregational section of Rockwood cemetery.
Two of his sons carried on the traditions of the paper, Geoffrey Evan Fairfax (1861–1930) and Sir James Oswald Fairfax (1863–1928). They entered the office on the same day in 1889 and each had a large share in the conduct of the paper. A third son, Charles Burton Fairfax, retired in 1904 and went to live in England. His son Captain J. Griffyth Fairfax
, born in 1886, was a member of the House of Commons for some years, and has published several volumes of verse of which a list will be found in E. Morris Miller
's Australian Literature. Warwick Oswald Fairfax
, son of Sir James Oswald Fairfax, born in 1901 became managing director in 1930.
John Fairfax's name lives on in the form of Fairfax Media
, formerly John Fairfax Holdings and before that, John Fairfax and Sons; although the Fairfax family no longer control the eponymous company.
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s of modern day Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Early life
Fairfax was born in Barford, WarwickshireBarford, Warwickshire
Barford is a village and civil parish in the Warwick district of Warwickshire, England, about three miles south of Warwick. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,171...
, the second son of William Fairfax and his wife, Elizabeth née Jesson. The Fairfax family for many years were lords of the manor of Barford, but estates had been lost and William Fairfax at the time of John's birth was in the building and furnishing trade. In 1817 John Fairfax was apprenticed to William Perry, a bookseller and printer in Warwick, and in 1825 went to London where he worked as a compositor in a general printing office and on the Morning Chronicle
Morning Chronicle
The Morning Chronicle was a newspaper founded in 1769 in London, England, and published under various owners until 1862. It was most notable for having been the first employer of Charles Dickens, and for publishing the articles by Henry Mayhew which were collected and published in book format in...
. A year or two later he established himself at Leamington Hastings
Leamington Hastings
Leamington Hastings is a small village and larger civil parish in Warwickshire, England.-The village:The village is about 7 miles south-west of Rugby and west of the A426 road between Rugby and Southam. To the north of the village is the Draycote Water reservoir...
as a printer, bookseller and stationer. There, on 31 July 1827, he married Sarah Reading, daughter of James and Sarah Reading. He became the printer of the Leamington Spa Courier, and in 1835 he purchased an interest in another paper The Leamington Chronicle and Warwickshire Reporter. He had a book binding business in Leamington. At this time Leamington was one of the leading spa town
Spa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
s in the UK.
In 1836 Fairfax published a letter criticizing the conduct of a local solicitor, who brought an action against him. Though judgment was given for the defendant, the solicitor appealed. Judgment was again given for Fairfax but the costs of the actions were so heavy that he had to apply to the Insolvency Court. There was sympathy for him, his friends offered assistance but he decided to make a fresh start in a new land, and in May 1838 sailed for the colony of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
in the Lady Fitzherbert with his wife and three children, his mother and a brother-in-law. After a voyage of about 130 days, they reached Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
on 26 September 1838; Fairfax had just £5 in his pocket.
Librarian
Fairfax worked as a compositor for some months then on 1 April 1839 was appointed librarian of the Australian subscription library. The salary was only £100 a year but he had free quarters for his family in pleasant surroundings. He found he was able to get some typesetting, and he also contributed articles to the various Sydney newspapers. What was possibly more important was his contacting through the library the best educated men of Sydney, and he became friendly with some of them. One of these was a member of the staff of the Sydney HeraldThe Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
, Charles Kemp, with whom he joined forces to purchase the Herald for the sum of £10,000.
Purchase
The paper was bought on terms, friends helped the two men to find the deposit, and on 8 February 1841 they took control as proprietors. It was good combination for each had qualities that supplemented the other's, they worked in harmony for 12 years and firmly established the paper as the leading Australian newspaper of the day. It was given the fuller title of the Sydney Morning Herald in 1842, and in spite of a period of depression both partners by 1853 were in prosperous positions. Kemp then decided to retire. The partnership was dissolved in September 1853 and Charles, John's eldest son, became a partner. In the previous year his father had visited England and seeking out his old creditors repaid every man in full with interest added. Under Fairfax and his sons the paper continually increased in public favour, and the great increase of population in the 1850s added much to its prosperity. It was always conservative; G. B. Barton in his Literature in New South Wales said in 1866 that its Toryism had "increased in a direct ratio to the Radicalism of the constitution, and its prosperity in a direct ratio to its Toryism". But this is an overstatement. The Herald was moved to its present site in 1856, and at that date claimed to have the largest circulation in the "colonial empire". A weekly journal, The Sydney MailThe Sydney Mail
The Sydney Mail was an Australian magazine published weekly in Sydney. The weekly edition of The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, it ran from 1860 to 1938....
, was established, its first number was published on 7 July 1860, and it continued to appear until 1938.
Final years
On 26 December 1863, Charles Fairfax, the eldest son and Fairfax's right-hand man on the paper, was thrown from his horse and killed. John Fairfax never fully recovered from his son's death, but the work of the newspaper went on. In 1865 Fairfax and his wife again visited England where they studied the latest newspaper methods. Fairfax became a member of the New South Wales Legislative CouncilNew South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
in 1874 but never took an active part in politics.
His wife, Sarah, died on 12 August 1875 and soon afterwards his own health began to fail. He died at his home 'Ginahgulla', Bellevue Hill
Bellevue Hill, New South Wales
Bellevue Hill is an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bellevue Hill is an affluent suburb, located 5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra....
on 16 June 1877. He was buried at the Rookwood Cemetery
Rookwood Cemetery
Rookwood Cemetery is the largest multicultural necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
, Independent Section, on 19 June 1877.
Churches
Fairfax was a sincerely religious man, much interested in the Congregational ChurchCongregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
. But his paper was kept free from religious bias, and was in no way responsible for the strong sectarian feelings which then existed in Sydney. His household was typically Victorian in its outlook, but in the newspaper due importance was given to music and the theatre, literature and art. To Fairfax the conduct of the press was a sacred trust and he never betrayed this. Of his children, his second son, Sir James Reading Fairfax (1834–1919), entered his father's office in 1852 and was admitted as a partner in 1856. When his father died he was in control of the paper, and in his hands it went from strength to strength. Fairfax was intimately associated with it for 67 years. In 1851 Faifax was a foundation director of the Australian Mutual Provident Society, and in the 1860s a director of the Sydney Insurance Co., the New South Wales Marine Insurance Co., the Australian Joint Stock Bank and the Australian Gaslight Co. and a trustee of the Savings Bank of New South Wales. Like his father, Fairfax was a religious man, and for a long period was president of the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
, and he did much for other social services of the community. He died on 28 March 1919 and was buried in the Congregational section of Rockwood cemetery.
Two of his sons carried on the traditions of the paper, Geoffrey Evan Fairfax (1861–1930) and Sir James Oswald Fairfax (1863–1928). They entered the office on the same day in 1889 and each had a large share in the conduct of the paper. A third son, Charles Burton Fairfax, retired in 1904 and went to live in England. His son Captain J. Griffyth Fairfax
J. Griffyth Fairfax
James Griffyth Fairfax was a British poet and translator.Fairfax, a grandson of the Australian newspaper tycoon John Fairfax, was educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford...
, born in 1886, was a member of the House of Commons for some years, and has published several volumes of verse of which a list will be found in E. Morris Miller
E. Morris Miller
Edmund Morris Miller, CBE was an Australian author.Born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, Miller moved with his family to Melbourne in 1883. He was educated at University High School and Wesley College. In 1900 he began working at the State Library of Victoria. He enrolled at the University of Melbourne...
's Australian Literature. Warwick Oswald Fairfax
Warwick Oswald Fairfax
Sir Warwick Oswald Fairfax was an Australian businessman prominent in the arts.He was the son of James Oswald Fairfax and grandson of John Fairfax....
, son of Sir James Oswald Fairfax, born in 1901 became managing director in 1930.
John Fairfax's name lives on in the form of Fairfax Media
Fairfax Media
Fairfax Media Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The group's operations include newspapers, magazines, radios and digital media operating in Australia and New Zealand. Fairfax Media was founded by the Fairfax family as John Fairfax and Sons, later to become John...
, formerly John Fairfax Holdings and before that, John Fairfax and Sons; although the Fairfax family no longer control the eponymous company.