James Valentine Fairbairn (28 July 1897 – 13 August 1940) was an Australian aviator and politician. A World War I fighter pilot, he represented the United Australia Party (UAP) in federal parliament and served as Minister for Air and Civil Aviation from 1939 until his death the following year.
Fairbairn was born in England to Australian parents, and grew up in country Victoria. At the age of 18 he returned to England to enlist in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). He was shot down behind enemy lines on one of his first missions and received a severe arm injury, subsequently spending over a year as a German prisoner-of-war. Fairbairn subsequently became a grazier in Victoria's Western District. He briefly served in the Victorian Legislative Assembly (1932–1933) before winning a by-election to the House of Representatives. Fairbairn continued flying as a civilian and was recognised as an aviation expert. He was appointed to cabinet in 1939 as a member of the first Menzies Government. He was killed in the 1940 Canberra air disaster along with two of his cabinet colleagues and the head of the army.
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Early life
Fairbairn was born on 28 July 1897 at Wadhurst, Sussex, England. He was the third of five children born to Australian parents Elizabeth (née Osborne) and Charles Fairbairn. His father's family had immense pastoral holdings in Queensland and Victoria, which had been accumulated by his Scottish-born grandfather George Fairbairn. His father and five uncles, including George and Steve, took over their management. His maternal grandfather James Osborne was also a pastoralist. When Fairbairn was two years old, his father acquired a property near Skipton in the Western District of Victoria. He was raised there until the age of eleven when he was sent to board at Geelong Grammar School. He represented the school in tennis, athletics and rowing.