Richard Robert James Fairbairn (27 May 1867 – 14 October 1941) was a British

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

ways and bus manager, Justice of the Peace and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

politician.

Personal life and career

Richard Robert Fairbairn was the son of a London labour leader, probably Mr R R Fairbairn who was sometime President of the Amalgamated Society of Watermen, Lightermen and Bargemen. He was educated in

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and after becoming a manager of tramway and omnibus undertakings in

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and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, he settled in Worcester to manage the Tramway Company there. He married and had six sons and three daughters. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Fairbairn was Food Transport Officer for the

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

and Midland Road Transport Officer. He later served as chairman of the Board of Commissioners for the

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Political life

Fairbairn seems to have inherited his interest in politics from his father but the son worked in the Liberal interest. He served as Secretary of the Worcester Liberal Association, was a political agent and canvasser in the town and became a member of Worcester Council. Fairbairn first stood for Parliament at the December 1910 general election, when he contested his home constituency of Worcester. He was successful in decreasing the Unionist's majority but failed to get elected. In all, Fairbairn fought Worcester eight times for the Liberals. In

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, the sitting Conservative MP was endorsed by the

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and presumably received the Coalition Coupon, increasing his majority over Fairbairn. At the 1922 general election, however, Fairbairn achieved his only Parliamentary success. Although he faced a new Conservative candidate rather than the established MP of many years, Fairbairn managed to turn a Unionist majority of 4,554 into a Liberal majority of 773. His Conservative opponent, the Hon. Henry Lygon, a scion of a well-known

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

family, had been seen as a strong candidate for his party but it was reported that the Tories had been overconfident and internally divided, and they seem to have paid the price. In

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

, Fairbairn faced yet another new face for the Conservatives at Worcester, Australian-born Crawford Green. Despite the revival in the country that the Liberal Party achieved at this election, now re-united around the traditional Liberal policy of

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, Green won the seat by a majority of 1,228 votes. Fairbairn was certainly persistent in his desire to represent Worcester again for the Liberals. He contested the seat again at the 1924, 1929,

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

and 1935 general elections. He finished in second place to the Conservatives each time, except for 1929 when Labour overtook him; but never came close to regaining his seat.

Death

Fairbairn died on 14 October 1941 while holding the office of Mayor of Worcester and having been granted the Freedom of the City in July that year. One academic has argued that by maintaining second position in the polls for the party in the face of any Labour challenge, Fairbairn ensured that Liberalism remained alive in Worcester at a time when the party was seen as increasingly irrelevant elsewhere.Denise Mylechreest, ''A Singular Liberal'', p1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairbairn, Richard Robert 1867 births 1941 deaths UK MPs 1922–1923 Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Mayors of places in Worcestershire Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Worcester Councillors in Worcestershire