Fairbairn John

John and Eileen Fairbairn made their mark in Rowville within a month of their arrival here in January 1990 when they responded to a notice in their letter box asking interested people to attend a public meeting called by the Mayor of Knox Cr Raymond to start up a Senior Citizens Club in Rowville. John – never one to be lost for words – asked several questions of the Mayor during the meeting and so impressed the large gathering of prospective members that they voted him in as the Club’s inaugural President. As if to make it a family matter Eileen was elected Secretary.

For a long-retired couple to throw themselves so willingly into getting a new venture off the ground would be considered unusual. But for people like John and Eileen, with their energy and love of involvement with other people, it was a natural thing to do. Nowadays, despite their advancing years (they are in their mid 80s), they are still keen members of the Club and John is the current Vice-President in 1997.

A Newspaperman from an Early Age

John was born a Scottish Borderer in the town of Kelso, the third of ten children who, true to their surname, were all blonde babies. With so many mouths to be fed the children had to do their share. So, from the age of eight, John’s job was to push an old barrow to the Kelso Railway Station each morning to collect bundles of The Edinburgh Scotsman and The Glasgow Herald and then deliver them to about 250 homes before dashing off to school. He was a bright youngster and, at the age of 14, won the dux medal at Kelso Public School and with it a much prized secondary school scholarship. When John delivered a photo of himself to The Kelso Chronicle to accompany the report of his medal win, the editor offered him a position as a cub reporter. John turned down the scholarship and took the job. He left school on a Friday afternoon and commenced his career as a journalist on the following Monday morning. The Kelso Chronicle was Britain’s oldest surviving newspaper having been published continuously from 1773. John recalled that one of his tasks was to search through the musty old papers to extract the information for a weekly column entitled “150 Years Ago”.

London Bound

John learned all aspects of the journalistic craft during his seven year apprenticeship and then ventured south to be interviewed for the position of senior reporter and sports editor on The West Sussex County Times at Horsham. After his interview the editor introduced him to a group of glum looking reporters who had been sent by their papers to cover a gypsy wedding. The gypsies had refused to speak to them and they were resigned to missing out on the story. They brightened up when John said that he was sure that he could help them. He explained that his mother had been born in Yetholme which was the heartland of gypsy culture in Scotland and, through her, John and his brothers and sisters had learned the gypsy language. He immediately set off to the gypsy camp in a meadow on the outskirts of the town and was well received by the families when they heard him speaking their language. John was able to obtain all the details of the wedding and duly passed them on to the waiting reporters. Two days later the editor rang him to say the job was his.

He found lodgings with a Mrs Annie Nye who took him one Sunday to visit her sister’s family in Wimbledon. John was so happy to meet their daughter Eileen, but Eileen was not so pleased to have to entertain this young man who spoke with an incomprehensible Scottish accent. Eileen was employed as a clerk at Harrods in London. As time went by, John’s accent softened and so did Eileen’s heart and their relationship became more and more affectionate. Three years after their first meeting they were married at Raynes Park, Wimbledon on 17th July 1937.

With the outbreak of World War II John was called up in 1940 and posted to serve with Anti-Aircraft Command. He commenced his training on the white cliffs of Dover as the evacuation from Dunkirk was in progress. Later, immense numbers of German aircraft flew into England every day in what was to be known as “The Battle of Britain”. After completing his training John was sent to Coventry where the German bombers were inflicting such savage assaults on the city that hardly a building was left unscathed.

John served for five years, rising to the rank of Sergeant-Instructor in 1st Z Regiment, a rocket firing regiment of the Royal Artillery. During a raid he was knocked unconscious when one of the 56 pound rockets exploded in the barrel of the launcher. He seemed to recover well at first but his hearing steadily deteriorated from that time.

While John was away, Eileen filled in for him as a part-time reporter for The Kent and Sussex Courier. She was also active in the WVS (Women’s Voluntary Services), performing canteen and courier duties as well as a variety of other roles. When the war was finally over John returned to his home in Crawley, Sussex and to his newspaper work with the Courier. More and more he found himself also writing material for the dailies and news agencies.

From Fleet Street to Launceston

John moved on to another paper, this time as sports editor of The Surrey Comet and, after a time, he made it to Fleet Street in London where he worked as a sub-editor with the British Press Association. He eventually found the very long working days and the travelling to and from London were taking a toll on his health. Also,he had seen that the plans for the new town of Crawley included the redevelopment of his street – all of the houses were to be bulldozed. At this low point he came across an advertisement for a position in Australia and he and Eileen made the decision to emigrate. In 1951 they boarded the MV Georgic with their only daughter Heather, (now Mrs Ray Hodge) and sailed to Australia where John had gained the position of cable sub-editor with The Launceston Examiner. On the way they had the unusual experience of sailing over the same part of the ocean near Suez where the Georgic had been sunk during the war while serving as a troop carrier. She was later raised and repaired and subsequently made several trips taking migrants from Britain to Australia.

After three years with the Examiner, John became editor of The Tasmanian Farmer, a position he held for fifteen years. They then moved to Victoria where John edited The Victorian Dairy Farmer. His final career move was to The Weekly Times where he researched and compiled “The Investigator” page until, with half a century of newspaper work behind him, he finally reached retirement age.

John and Eileen settled in Rosebud where Eileen enjoyed gardening and being an active member of a knitting club. John continued his writing and produced his “Handibook of a Thousand Answers” culled from the approximate 10,000 answers he had prepared for The Investigator’s page over many years. The answers cover a huge range of topics ranging from cleaning hints through medical and legal advice to instructions in most unusual matters such as how to tan a snake’s skin. The book was published by Rigby in 1982.

By 1990, the desire to be nearer to their family drew them to Rowville where they now proudly watch their four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren grow up.

Diamond Anniversary Celebrations

Because of illness their diamond wedding anniversary celebrations were delayed for a fortnight but were thoroughly enjoyed at the end of July by John and Eileen, their family and friends from Rowville Senior Citizens’Club. They received congratulations from the Queen, the Prime Minister, the Governor General and local Federal Member, Peter Nugent.

John was, for some years, the one who reported the activities of the Rowville Senior Citizens’ Club for the Rowville Lysterfield Community News.
Interviewed by Bryan Power