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

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

ways and

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

manager,

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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. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

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 The Amalgamated Society of Watermen, Lightermen and Bargemen was a trade union in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1889 as the Amalgamated Society of Watermen and Lightermen of the River Thames. In 1901, it merged with the Watchm ...

. He was educated in

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and after becoming a manager of tramway and omnibus undertakings in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, he settled in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

to manage the Tramway Company there. He married and had six sons and three daughters. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Fairbairn was Food Transport Officer for the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

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

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

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 The December 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 3 to 19 December. It was the last general election to be held over several days and the last to be held before the History of the United Kingdom during the First World War, First Wo ...

, when he contested his home constituency of

. 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

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

, the sitting Conservative MP was endorsed by the

Coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

and presumably received the

Coalition Coupon The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory ...

, 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 county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

family, had been seen as a strong candidate for his party but it was reported that the

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had been overconfident and internally divided, and they seem to have paid the price. In

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

, 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

Free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

, 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 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

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 The Mayor of Worcester is the civic head of Worcester City Council. Every May one of the city Councillors is elected to serve as Mayor for a year. Another is elected as Deputy Mayor. The Mayor chairs meetings of the Full Council, represents the c ...

and having been granted the

Freedom of the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

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