T. C. Fairbairn

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Thomas Charles Fairbairn (usually credited as T. C. Fairbairn) (26 March 1874 – 1978){{cite news |title=Birthdays today and tomorrow |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph/135914296/ |access-date=28 November 2023 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=26 March 1977}} was a British theatre impresario, particularly known for his productions of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Hiawatha.{{cite web|url=http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/coleridge-taylor-hiawatha|title=Coleridge-Taylor Hiawatha|work=Gramophone|accessdate=17 August 2014}}

Fairbairn first produced his dramatised, costumed version of Scenes from the Song of Hiawatha in 1924.{{cite web|url=http://www.momh.org.uk/exhibitions-detail.php?cat_id=5&prod_id=283|title=Hiawatha at the Royal Albert Hall, 1924-1939|publisher=Museum of Music History|accessdate=17 August 2014}} Held at the Royal Albert Hall, and featuring the Royal Choral Society, it raised funds for the Royal National Institute for the Blind. The eight performances were so successful that he rebooked the hall and choir for the following year. He repeated the show every year until 1939, apart from 1926, the year of the General Strike.{{cite web|url=http://life.royalalberthall.com/2012/06/07/june-story-of-the-month-the-royal-choral-society-and-the-royal-albert-hall/|title=June Story of the Month: the Royal Choral Society and the Royal Albert Hall|date=7 June 2012|work=Life at the Hall|accessdate=17 August 2014}} All but the first show featured 1,000 performers, 200 of whom were dancers. The production also toured other venues in the greater London area.

In 1939, Fairbairn was living in Hampstead, London.{{cite web |title=1939 England and Wales Register |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/7103709:61596?tid=&pid=&queryId=9c38f88ed47dcad22bf39b51dda26977&_phsrc=ddL34280&_phstart=successSource |website=Ancestry |access-date=28 November 2023}}

Fairbairn appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 18 May 1974.{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/199a0b79#p009n7tz |title=Desert Island Discs - Castaway : T C Fairbairn |work=BBC Online |publisher=BBC |accessdate=17 August 2014}}

Fairbairn died in Hammersmith, London in 1978.{{cite web |title=Death registration |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl?start=1978&end=1978&sq=1&eq=1&type=Deaths&vol=12&pgno=2072&db=bmd_1700485213&jsexec=1&mono=0&v=MTcwMTE3MzczMzo0ZjgxYzU1ZjQ1ZmIxM2QwNmY2MjVkYTNjOTM3NWU5MzMzNDRhZTU4&searchdef=db%3Dbmd_1700485213%26type%3DDeaths%26sq%3D1%26given%3Dthomas%26eq%3D4%26start%3D1977%26surname%3Dfairbairn&action=Find |website=FreeBMD |access-date=28 November 2023}}