Edward G. Fairholme

Fairholme was born in London.^[1] He was the son of Captain Charles Fairholme and Julie Pollnitz.^[2] He was educated privately at Chatham House School in Ramsgate. He worked at William Heinemann publishers from 1896 and joined Lawrence & Bullen Ltd in 1901. He was Deputy Assistant Director Veterinary Service 1915–1916.^[2] In 1899, he was secretary of the third International Publishers' Congress in London.^[2] He wrote articles for The Academy, The Nineteenth Century, The Outlook and The Sketch. Fairholme lived at Campden Hill Court in London.^[2] He married Eleanor Chew in 1903.^[3]

Fairholme was a captain in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps in WWI.^[4][5] He was awarded the 1918 New Year Honours (OBE). His brother Lieutenant-Colonel Henry William Fairholme committed suicide in 1933.^[6] He died on 6 January 1956 at Frinton-on-Sea.^[1]

Fairholme was chief secretary of the RSPCA from 1908 to 1933, succeeding Gerard Lysley Derriman.^[4][7] He was editor of the RSPCA's magazine The Animal World. He was an advocate of humane slaughter, suggesting that stun guns should be used on cattle and poultry.^[8]

Fairholme was a speaker at the First American International Humane Conference in Washington in 1910 and attended the Second International Humane Conference in 1923.^[9][10][11] He was also a speaker at meetings of the Society for Promotion of Kindness to Animals.^[12]

In 1924, he co-authored a history of the RSPCA. The Prince of Wales wrote a foreword for the book.^[13] A second edition was published in 1934.^[14]

• The R.S.P.C.A. and the Decrepit Horse Traffic to the Continent (1910)
• The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: Why it Was Needed and What it Has Done (1914)
• A Century of Work for Animals: The History of the R.S.P.C.A., 1824-1924 (with Wellesley Pain, 1924)