Ruth Fairfax
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Ruth Beatrice Fairfax (8 October 1878 – 1 February 1948) was a founding member of the Australian
Country Women's Association The Country Women's Association (CWA) is a women's organisation in Australia, which seeks to advance interests of women, families, and communities in Australia, especially those in rural, regional, and remote areas. It comprises seven indep ...
and the first President of the
Queensland Country Women's Association The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) is the Queensland chapter of the Country Women's Association in Australia. The association seeks to serve the interests of women and children in rural areas in Australia through a network of loca ...
. The federal electorate of Fairfax is named in her honour.


Early life

Fairfax was born Ruth Beatrice Dowling to Frances Emily Dowling
née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Breillat and
Vincent James Dowling Vincent James Dowling (11 January 1835 – 5 November 1903) was an Australian explorer and pastoralist. Early life Dowling was born in Sydney in 1835 to the solicitor Willoughby James Dowling and his wife Lilias Dickson. His grand uncle was Si ...
on 8 October 1878, in the small town of Lue, near the larger town of
Rylstone, New South Wales Rylstone is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, in the Central Tablelands region within the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area. It is located on the Bylong Valley Way road route. At the , Rylstone had a population of 904. ...
, Australia. She was educated at by home by
governess A governess is a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching; depending on terms of their employment, they may or ma ...
es, and also attended
Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School SCEGGS Darlinghurst is an independent Anglican single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school for girls, located in Darlinghurst, an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1895 as the Sydney Ch ...
. Ruth Dowling and John Hubert Fraser Fairfax were married on 2 February 1899, an occasion "for great rejoicing, because it was the wedding day of the popular and universally-beloved daughter of the Squire of Lue, Miss Dowling, whose hand was claimed by Mr. Hubert Fairfax, son of Sir James Fairfax, of ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
''." The ''
Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative The ''Mudgee Guardian and Gulgong Advertiser'' is an English language newspaper published in Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1890 under the name ''Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative''. History The ''Mu ...
'' reported that the bride was "beautiful in a dress of white duchesse satin, trimmed with cream lace and chiffon and flowers on bodice. She wore a wreath of orange blossoms and heather in her hair, with diamond crescent, the gift of her father and mother, and on the bodice a diamond brooch, the gift of Sir James and Lady Fairfax, whilst the floral bouquet, the gift of the bridegroom, completed a living picture that will long be remembered by all present." The Fairfax family moved to Dalmore Station near
Longreach Longreach is a rural town and locality in the Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre of the Longreach Regional Council, which was established in 2008 as a merger of the former Longreach, Ilfracombe, and I ...
,
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, then in 1908 to Marinya station near Cambooya, Queensland on the
Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally ...
. In 1909 their only child, Vincent was born. They travelled to England in 1912, but returned to Australia at the outbreak of the First World War.


Leadership of women's organisations

Ruth Fairfax became President of the Toowoomba branch of the Australian Comfort Fund, providing support for soldiers fighting in the war and she became recognised as a practical woman with organisational and leadership skills. There were, in the early years of the 20th century, a number of women's groups established, including the National Council of Women, Brisbane Women's Club, and the Queensland Women's Electoral League. There was however, a need identified for an organisation dedicated to the needs of country women. On 10 August 1922, in a meeting at the
Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genre ...
, Brisbane, Fairfax was elected President of the newly established
Queensland Country Women's Association The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) is the Queensland chapter of the Country Women's Association in Australia. The association seeks to serve the interests of women and children in rural areas in Australia through a network of loca ...
. This meeting was timed to coincide with the Brisbane Exhibition, when there were likely to be large numbers of rural women in Brisbane. The first meeting of the newly formed Association was held in Toowoomba on 12 September 1922, chaired by Fairfax. Fairfax then went on a tour of six months around outback Queensland, establishing branches of the Country Women's Association and recruiting women to their local branches. In 1929, Fairfax travelled to the UK where she studied at
Women's Institutes The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organization for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being the ...
in England and Scotland. She also represented the Country Women's Association at the First International Conference of Rural Women's Organisations in London, and at the International Council of Women in Vienna. Her passion for women in country areas was long-standing, and she thought of country women as a sisterhood, promoting the idea of mutual help and support. She and her family moved to New South Wales in 1931, as her son took up a post with ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'', a family business concern since 1841. Her home in Sydney was the , ''Elaine'', on the waterfront at Seven Shillings Beach,
Double Bay Double Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality o ...
. This property was built by the Fairfax family in 1891 and, in 2019, was sold for in excess of 70 million to
Scott Farquhar Scott Farquhar (born December 1979) is an Australian businessman who is the co-founder and the former co-chief executive officer of software company Atlassian. Farquhar often carries the epithet of ''accidental billionaire'' after he and his bu ...
. After the move to New South Wales, Ruth Fairfax continued to be involved in the Country Women's Association. She was the president of the metropolitan group in Sydney and also honorary secretary of the New South Wales Country Women's Association. She was a vice president of the
Associated Country Women of the World The Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) is the largest international organization for rural women, with a membership of nine million in 82 countries (per 2023). ACWW holds a triennial conference and publishes a magazine, ''The Countrywoman ...
, and attended conferences in Washington and London in her role. She was also an editor of
The Countrywoman in New South Wales : official journal of the Country Women's Association of New South Wales
' which was published from 1937 – 1957. She was actively involved in a number of other organisations, including as the vice-president of the ladies' auxiliary of the Adult Deaf and Dumb Society of New South Wales, and as a member of the board of directors of St. Luke's Hospital, Darlinghurst. She was a member of the State executive and then the General Council of the Girl Guides' Association. She was appointed a trustee of the Public Library of New South Wales in 1937, and served in that role until her death. She was chairman of the Women's Council of the Australian Board of Missions, and a patroness of the Kooroora Club for business girls, which formed in 1929. In 1935 she was appointed an
Officer of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
in recognition of her services. In 1944, the Queensland Country Women's Association established the Ruth Fairfax Bursary.


Later life

In her later years, she was afflicted with
diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...
. Fairfax died on 1 February 1948 from chronic
nephritis Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy. Types * Glomerulonephritis is inflammation ...
in St Luke's Hospital,
Potts Point Potts Point is a small and densely populated suburb in inner-city Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local government area o ...
,
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
. Ruth Fairfax House, the new state headquarters of the Queensland Country Women's Association, opened on 10 February after her death. It was a Japanese house imported from Japan in 1878 by Judge George William Paul. Her husband, John Hubert Fairfax (1872-1950), was a pastoralist, businessman and philanthropist, and grandson of
John Fairfax John Fairfax (24 October 1804 – 16 June 1877) was an English-born journalist, company director, politician, librarian and newspaper owner, known for the incorporation of the major newspapers of modern-day Australia. Early life Fairfax was bo ...
, an early owner of ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
''. Her son, Sir Vincent Charles Fairfax, (1909–1993), was well known for his generous philanthropy and supported organisations such as the Boy Scouts and Outward Bound. In 1962, Ruth Fairfax House was saved from demolition by dismantling it and reconstructing it in Ingham; it was listed on the
Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...
in 2003.


Gallery

Fund raising during World War I Toowoomba 1917.tif, Fundrasing in aid of the Toowoomba Soldiers' Sock and Comforts Fund, during
World War I 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 ...
. The photograph shows Mrs Fairfax's novelty stall. Ruthfairfaxchapel.jpeg, Ruth Fairfax Chapel,
Potts Point Potts Point is a small and densely populated suburb in inner-city Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local government area o ...
, Sydney SLNSW 33993 Country Womens Association fete at Mrs Ruth Fairfaxs house Elaine Seven Shillings Beach Double Bay Miss Clark.jpg, Ruth Fairfax's former house, ''Elaine'', at Seven Shillings Beach,
Double Bay Double Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality o ...


References


External links


Electorate of Fairfax Greens party candidate opinion about Ruth Fairfax

"Maiden Speech" of the Honourable Alexander Somlyay MP, current member for Fairfax, about Ruth Fairfax

website of the CWA of Australia

Queensland Country Women's Association: Queensland Business Leader's Hall of Fame 2013 inductee

Ruth Fairfax
''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairfax, Ruth 1878 births 1948 deaths Australian feminists
Ruth Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny United States * Ruth, Alabama * Ruth, Ark ...
Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Sydney Church of England Girls Grammar School Burials at Rookwood Cemetery Country Women's Association