© National Portrait Gallery 2025
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
Tim Fairfax AC
Biography
Tim Fairfax AC (b.1946), company director, grazier and philanthropist, is a founding benefactor of the National Portrait Gallery and a former chair of its board of directors.
1 portrait in the collection
Little Faces
Event, Selected days until Friday 16 May
Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.
Art Cart
Joan Ross
Event, Daily until Sunday 27 April
Drop into the Gallery for free creative activities inspired by the flora and fauna featured in the vibrant exhibition, Joan Ross: Those trees came back to me in my dreams.
Story Time
Secrets of the Seasons
Event, Starts Wednesday 16 April
This Story Time we’re exploring the magic of a childhood spent in the Australian bush with the book Secrets of the Seasons, written by Heidi Cooper Smith.
Art cart
Thom Roberts
Event, Daily until Sunday 20 July
Drop into the Gallery any time for free creative activities inspired by artist Thom Roberts and his exhibition, The Immersive World of Thom Roberts.
Portrait Play
Face the music
Event, Selected days until Thursday 24 April
Join us for Portrait Play these school holidays as we explore portraits and music. Come and meet the people that live on our walls, discover musical instruments hidden in the portraits and get creative on your journey through the galleries.
James Fairfax AO
Biography
James Oswald Fairfax AC (1933-2017) was the eldest son of Sir Warwick Fairfax.
1 portrait in the collection
Elizabeth Fairfax
Biography
Elizabeth Fairfax (née Jesson, 1778–1861), colonial free settler, was born in Birmingham and around 1800 married William Fairfax, whose family had previously held estates in Barford, Warwickshire.
1 portrait in the collection
Hon. John Fairfax MLC
Biography
John Fairfax (1805-1877) was a newspaper publisher whose purchase of the Sydney Morning Herald in 1841 began a family association with the paper that would last for over five generations and nearly 150 years.
3 portraits in the collection
Emily Fairfax
Biography
Emily Ross (née Fairfax) (1832-1871) was the eldest child of newspaper publisher John Fairfax - who founded the Fairfax news dynasty in Sydney in 1841 - and his wife Sarah.
1 portrait in the collection
Sarah Fairfax
Biography
Sarah Reading (1808-1875) came to Sydney from England in 1838 with her husband, John Fairfax (1805-1877), who had left school at the age of twelve and been apprenticed to a printer and bookseller.
1 portrait in the collection
Ned Kelly and death masks
'Judge a person by their cover'
Portrait story
Alexandra Roginski explains the history behind the pseudo-science of phrenology.
Tom Carroll
Portrait story
Regarded as one of the greatest surfers of all time, Tom Carroll describes his career.
Sir Warwick Oswald Fairfax
Biography
Sir Warwick Oswald Fairfax (1901-1987), grandson of Sarah and James Fairfax, was the only son of Sir James Fairfax, who had become a partner in the company in the 1880s.
1 portrait in the collection
Sir James Reading Fairfax KT
Biography
James Reading Fairfax (1834 -1919) was the second of John Fairfax's sons to join him in business.
1 portrait in the collection
Sir Vincent Charles Fairfax CMG
Biography
Sir Vincent Charles Fairfax CMG (1909-1993), pastoralist, was the son of JHF Fairfax.
1 portrait in the collection