* SIR NICHOLAS FAIRBAIRN QC (SCOTTISH 1933 - 1995),
COTE D'AZUR
oil on canvas, signed and dated 1958
image size 35cm x 40cm, overall size 42cm x 47cm
Framed.
Note: Sir Nicholas Fairbairn was a colourful, flamboyant and controversial figure in Scottish legal circles and on the UK political scene during the latter quarter of the 20th century. He was immensely popular among his constituents and was widely respected as a competent and diligent constituency MP. Fairbairn was the epitome of an eccentric in his attitudes, his sartorial style and in most other aspects of his working and personal life. While some disagreed with him, few if any, doubted his intelligence or wit. He was a brilliant QC and was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland in 1979. He always carried a silver miniature, working revolver on a chain attached to his belt. He was reputedly the only MP to use the House of Commons Parliamentary snuff box. Above all, Sir Nicholas Fairbairn was his own man. He amusingly, but typically, described himself in his final entry in Who's Who, as "Author, forester, painter, poet, TV and radio broadcaster, journalist, dress-designer, landscape gardener, bon viveur, raconteur and wit". His autobiography, A Life is Too Short, was published in 1987.