He was one of seven children (including six sons) born to Virginia Charlotte (née Armytage) and George Fairbairn.

His father was a Scottish immigrant who amassed substantial landholdings in Australia and married the daughter of one of his business partners George Armytage.

[2] He rowed for Jesus College Boat Club in 1875 and 1876, the first two years of an 11-year stretch up to 1885 when it won the Cambridge head of the river races.

Fairbairn returned to Australia in 1876 and in the following years managed Peak Downs and Barcaldine stations in Queensland.

He was uncle of James Fairbairn, a Minister for Civil Aviation from 1939 until his death in a plane crash in 1940.