The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Fairfax, Rear-Admiral Henry
Fairfax, Rear-Admiral Henry, C.B., second son of Colonel Sir Henry Fairfax, Bart., was born in 1837, and entered the Royal Navy in 1850, becoming commander in 1862, captain in 1868, and rear-admiral in 1885. He was naval attaché to Sir Bartle Frere's mission to Zanzibar in 1872-3; private secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty in 1873-4; and was created C.B. (Civil Division) in 1879, and Military Division in 1882. He commanded H.M.S. Monarch at the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882, for which he received a medal, the Khedive's bronze star and the 3rd class Osmanlieh. He was naval aide-de-camp to the Queen from 1879 to 1885 and Commander-in-Chief on the Australian station from 1887 to 1889, assuming the command on the 17th of April in the former year. In 1889 Admiral Fairfax became Second Naval Lord of the Admiralty. Admiral Fairfax married, in 1872, Harriet, daughter of Sir David Kinloch, 9th Bart.