Sir Warwick Fairfax |
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Born |
Warwick Oswald Fairfax 19 December 1901 Double Bay, New South Wales |
Died | 14 January 1987 Double Bay, New South Wales |
(aged 85)
Burial place | South Head cemetery |
Nationality | Australian |
Education |
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Alma mater | |
Occupation | Newspaper proprietor; cattle breeder; playwright |
Spouse(s) |
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Children |
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Parents |
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Relatives | John Fairfax (grandfather) |
Sir Warwick Oswald Fairfax (19 December 1901 – 14 January 1987) was an Australian businessman prominent in the arts as both a philanthropist and a playwright. He was a member of the Fairfax family.
Fairfax was the son of James Oswald Fairfax (1863–1928) and grandson of John Fairfax. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts at Balliol College, Oxford after studying at Geelong Grammar and the University of Sydney (where he was resident at St. Paul's College).
In 1928, Fairfax married Marcie Elizabeth (Betty) Wilson, the daughter of David Wilson KC and the niece of William Hardy Wilson. They had two children, James Oswald Fairfax (junior) and Caroline, before their divorce in 1945. Fairfax married Hanne Anderson in 1948 and they had one daughter, Annalise, before divorcing in 1959. He married Mary Wein just after midnight on 4 July 1959. She had also been known as Marie Wein and Mary Symonds (from her earlier marriage to Cedric Symonds).Warwick Geoffrey Oswald Fairfax, Anna and Charles were his children with his third wife, Mary, Lady Fairfax. They grew up in Fairwater, the Fairfax family's harbourside home in Double Bay, where Lady Fairfax hosted some memorable parties, including a ball for 1000 people in 1973 to celebrate the opening of the Sydney Opera House, when guests included Rex Harrison, Rudolf Nureyev, Liberace and Imelda Marcos.