Sir Andrew Fairbairn (5 March 1828 – 30 May 1901) was a British

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician. Fairbairn was born in

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, the son of Sir Peter Fairbairn, of Woodsley House, Leeds and his wife Margaret Kennedy and educated at Geneva, at Glasgow, and at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He was called to the bar at

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in 1852. He became a captain in the Yorkshire Hussar Yeoman Cavalry and major in the 7th West Riding Rifle Volunteers. He was chairman of the engineering firm of Fairbairn, Naylor, Macpherson, & Co. of Leeds. He was Mayor of Leeds from 1866 to 1868 and chairman of Leeds School Board from 1871 to 1878. He was a member of Executive Committee of Leeds Exhibition of Fine Arts and a Royal Commissioner of the Paris Exhibition in 1868. He was a J.P and Deputy Lieutenant for the West Riding of Yorkshire and a J.P. for Leeds.Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886
/ref> He was knighted in 1868. Fairbairn was elected at the 1880 general election as one of the two

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Eastern West Riding of Yorkshire. When that constituency was divided at the 1885 general election, he was elected for the new Otley constituency. When the Liberals split over Irish Home Rule, Fairbairn joined the breakaway

Liberal Unionists The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

, and was defeated at the 1886 general election by the Liberal party candidate. In 1892 he served as

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Sir Andrew lived at

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, near Knaresborough during the 1870s, leased from the Lascelles family of

Harewood House Harewood House ( , ) is a country house in Harewood, West Yorkshire, England. Designed by architects John Carr and Robert Adam, it was built, between 1759 and 1771, for Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood, a wealthy West Indian plantation ...

and built Askham Grange in 1886 as his country house. Askham Grange in Askham Richard, near York is now a women's open category prison. He married Clara Loraine, daughter of Sir John Lambton Loraine Bt and had no children.

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* 1828 births 1901 deaths High Sheriffs of Yorkshire Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies Mayors of Leeds UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 {{England-mayor-stub