painter, lithographer, illustrator and drawing master, announced his presence in Sydney in the Sydney Morning Herald on 30 April 1853 as 'Lithographic Draughtsman, and Professor of Drawing’. He was proposing to establish classes in pencil, crayon and watercolour drawing for schools and private families and gave as his qualifications that he had written several 'Picturesque and Progressive Drawing Books’ when working in England as an illustrator. He particularly offered to teach 'in the highly attractive style of Drawing on the GRADUATED TINTED IVORY PAPER, so greatly patronised by Schools, &c., In England’, a type of scraper-board printed in pastel colours which was then fashionable for amateur work. On 20 July 1854 the Herald reported that Mr C.H. Fairland of Pyrmont had just published a series of exceedingly well-executed lithographs as easy art studies for beginners titled The Sydney Drawing Book , but added disparagingly that there was not one lithograph 'of colonial character or description’ in the entire collection.

Fairland lived at Hunter’s Hill and was active in the formation of the municipality in 1861, becoming its first town clerk. He held drawing classes at his home and apparently continued to teach locally. In 1866 he was appointed drawing master at Miss Griffin’s educational establishment for young ladies, Rivière House, Piper Street, Woollahra. No work is known from this period, but he exhibited a watercolour, Tableau de Genre , at the Sydney Intercolonial Exhibition in 1875 which was commended by the judges. He was at Roseville, Alexander Street, Hunter’s Hill, until 1886; then Mrs Christiana Fairland, presumably his widow, was listed as owner-occupier.

Writers:

Staff Writer

Date written:

1992

Last updated:

2011