Aged 18 years, James Reading Fairfax began working for his father and in December 1856 with his elder brother, Charles, became a partner in the firm, John Fairfax and Sons. Following the death of Charles in 1863, James Reading became the principal partner in the development of the Herald. The same year he married Lucy, née Armstrong, and together they had seven children: Mary Elizabeth, Charles Burton, Geoffrey Evan, James Oswald, Harold Walter, (John) Hubert Fraser, and Edward Wilfred. James Reading was prominent in both business and philanthropy. Like his father, James Reading was a director of the Australian Mutual Provident Society, and he was a founder of the Perpetual Trustee Company, and a director of the Bank of New South Wales, the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney and Burns, Philp & Co. Limited. His philanthropic interests were numerous and included Young Men's Christian Association, the Boys' Brigade in Sydney, the Sydney Ragged Schools, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, the New South Wales Bush Nursing Association, the Mission to Seamen, Goodenough Royal Naval House and the Volunteer Rifles, the No. 3 Company, Sydney Battalion where he served as captain, the New South Wales Academy of Art, the National Art Gallery of New South Wales, the (Royal) Philharmonic Society of Sydney, the Sydney Amateur Orchestral Society, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Society of New South Wales, the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, the Union Club and the Royal Sydney Golf Club. James Reading Fairfax was appointed a Knight Bachelor in 1898 and died in 1919, aged 85 years.
