Stephen Ian Fairbairn (14 April 18965 December 1968) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

financier and

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

who competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics, and later rose to the position of chairman of the M&G fund management company.

Personal life

Fairbairn was the son of Steve Fairbairn and his wife Eleanor née Sharwood. He went to school at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

. Fairbairn married Cynthia Isabelle Theresa Arbuthnot, daughter of

Gerald Arbuthnot Gerald Archibald Arbuthnot (19 December 1872 – 25 September 1916) was a British soldier and Conservative Party politician. Early life The son of Major General William Arbuthnot and Selina Moncreiffe, he was vice-chancellor of the Primrose ...

, MP for Burnley on 27 July 1925. They had two children and were divorced in 1941. He was married a second time in 1941, to Esmée V. H. Bethell (also known as Esmée Stobart from her earlier marriage, from which she had two sons). She was killed in an air-raid by a

flying bomb A flying bomb is a manned or unmanned aerial vehicle or aircraft carrying a large explosive warhead, a precursor to contemporary cruise missiles. In contrast to a bomber aircraft, which is intended to release bombs and then return to its base f ...

in 1944. In 1961 he created the

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is a registered charity founded in England in 1961. It is one of the larger independent grant-making foundations based in the UK, funding organisations which aim to improve the quality of life for people and communit ...

as a memorial to his second wife, transferring his personal holding in M&G Group plc to the trust. This endowment allowed it to become one of the larger charities in the UK.

Career

Military

After leaving school, Fairbairn attended

Royal Military College Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry ...

, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Horse Guards on 11 November 1914. He was posted to France on 19 May 1915, having just been promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 14 May. He transferred to the

Guards Machine Gun Regiment The Guards Machine Gun Regiment was a regiment of the British Army, formed for service in the First World War. When the Guards Division was formed in August 1915, it included three machine gun companies, with a fourth added in March 1917. In Apr ...

on 12 August 1918, and was promoted captain on 18 October 1918. He ceased to be employed with the Guards Machine Gun Regiment on 31 January 1919, and resigned his commission on 1 May 1919. He was badly wounded during the war. Fairbairn appears to have held a reserve commission during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Rowing

He was a member of

Thames Rowing Club The Thames Rowing Club (TRC) is a rowing club based on the tidal Thames as it flows through the western suburbs of London. The TRC clubhouse stands on Putney Embankment. The club was founded in 1860. As at July 2022, Thames had won events at H ...

, as was his father, taking part in a race on the Thames at

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

on 12 April 1919. In 1920 he was runner up in

Silver Goblets The Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's coxless pairs at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing club A rowing club ...

at Henley Royal Regatta in a

coxless pair A coxless pair is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars. The crew consists of a pair of rowers, each having one oar, one on the stroke side (rower's right ...

with Bruce Logan. In 1923 Fairbairn stroked the Thames crew which won the

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing competition for men's eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing ...

, and was again stroke in the Thames crew that made up the eight rowing for

Great Britain at the 1924 Summer Olympics Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. This was the first Summer Olympics in which athletes from the newly independent Irish Free State competed separately. Follo ...

, finishing fourth. He was Captain of Thames (again following his father) in 1933, a vice president from 1927 to 1967 and President from 1967 until his death a year later. He was a Steward of Henley Royal Regatta from 1948 until his death.

Finance

After the First World War, Fairbairn worked at the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

and in Paris for several years. He also studied at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

. He pioneered the

unit trust A unit trust is a form of collective investment constituted under a trust deed. A unit trust pools investors' money into a single fund, which is managed by a fund manager. Unit trusts offer access to a wide range of investments, and depending on ...

industry at

M&G Investments M&G plc is a global investment manager headquartered in the City of London. Since its de-merger from Prudential plc, it has been listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History Pre-2000 Municipal & Ge ...

which he joined in 1935 as an investment manager. From 1943 he was chair of M&G. He believed that investments in equities should be available to everyone so that there was a wider ownership of stakes in the nation's economy. In 1955 he became chair of the parent group, White Drummond. He resigned as chair of both organisations in 1967.

Politics

Fairbairn was the Unionist candidate for Burnley (his first father-in-law's old constituency) in the 1924 and 1929 general elections; on both occasions he came second behind Labour's

Arthur Henderson Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 20 October 1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the first Labour cabinet minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 and, uniquely, served three separate terms as Leader of th ...

.British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairbairn, Ian 1896 births 1968 deaths British male rowers Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Olympic rowers of Great Britain Rowers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Royal Horse Guards officers People educated at Eton College British Army personnel of World War I Stewards of Henley Royal Regatta Alumni of the London School of Economics

Ian Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

20th-century British philanthropists Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates British sportsperson-politicians Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom