A half length seated studio portrait of John Fairbairn (1794-1864), Cape journalist and politician. Born in Roxburghshire and educated at Edinburgh University, Fairbairn came to Cape Town in 1823 to open a school with Thomas Pringle. This project was not successful and in 1824 he became the first editor (with Pringle) of the short-lived ‘South African Journal’. From 1824-1859 he edited the ‘South African Commercial Advertiser’ and was a campaigner in the causes of a free press and anti-slavery. In 1850 he was briefly a member of the Legislative Council and in the same year visited England to canvas for responsible government at the Cape. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly for Swellendam from 1854 until his death.