FAIRCHILD, JOHN (1835-98) was born near Plymouth, England, and brought up with his parents on a small farm in Prince Edward Island, Canada. He left home in his teens and engaged in fur trapping, went to sea as a carpenter and, leaving the Joseph Hensley at Liverpool (1858) took his passage to Australia in the Florence Nightingale. For some time, with a mate, he made handcart wheels to meet a demand created by the goldfields. As carpenter in a brig from Sydney he was wrecked near Manukau. He then engaged in the coastal service and in 1861 purchased the cutter Thistle, which he ran between Onehunga and Kawhia. He afterwards commanded the cutter Abeona in the same trade. Fairchild piloted warships operating on the coast during the Waikato war including the transport Prince Alfred, which was urgently needed with reinforcements. In 1864 he joined the Government service as captain of the Sturt, and he afterwards commanded the Luna, the Hinemoa and the Tutanekai. He died on 4 Jul 1898.

Cowan; Cycl. N.Z., i; Gisborne (p); Evening Post, 26 Dec 1936, 2 Jan 1937 (p).

Reference: Volume 1, page 135

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