Charles Aken Fairbridge (1824–1893) was a Cape Colony book collector and a conservative member of the Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope.

Early life

Fairbridge was born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, the son of recent and relatively affluent British settlers. His father was district surgeon, based in Uitenhage where Charles Aken grew up. In 1837, he was sent by his parents to England to finish his education. Upon his return to the Cape, he became a partner in the law firm Fairbridge, Arderne, and Lawton, with a particular focus on maritime law. He married Sarah R. Anderson, the daughter of William George Anderson, one of the original directors of Old Mutual; in 1862 they settled in

Sea Point Sea Point (Afrikaans: ''Seepunt'') is one of Cape Town's most affluent and densely populated suburbs, situated between Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean, a few kilometres to the west of Cape Town's Central Business District (CBD). Moving from ...

, Cape Town.

Political career

Fairbridge had entered the first Cape Parliament in 1854, representing Caledon District until 1858. He was involved in the establishment of the national museum. In 1874 he was requested to re-design the arms of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

, and produced the emblem that was used by the Cape Province up until the late 20th century. In 1874 he also returned to Parliament, this time as one of the members representing Cape Town. He was a strong opponent of the attempts by

Lord Carnarvon Earl of Carnarvon is a title that has been created three times in British history. The current holder is George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. The town and county in Wales to which the title refers are historically spelled ''Caernarfon,'' havi ...

in the late 1870s to enforce a British confederation on southern Africa.

Bibliophile

He was chiefly known as a book collector though, with an enormous library of considerable value. It was later donated to the South African Library. Fairbridge died on 4 July 1893, after returning from a holiday in

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairbridge, Charles 1824 births 1893 deaths Cape Colony politicians Members of the House of Assembly of the Cape Colony Book and manuscript collectors Cape Colony lawyers