Air Mechanic F/41482 George William Fairs RNAS was born at Cobham, Surrey on the 26th of June 1872, the son of Thomas Walter Fairs (1847 to 1909) and Maria Elizabeth Denley (1852 to 1929). He was baptised at Cobham on the 4th of August by H G Spyers - Thomas was a foreman at the gas works.
In 1881, he was with his family in Cobham. Thomas, aged 34 was a Gas manager born at Leatherhead. The other family members were all born at Cobham. Maria, aged 29 and children George aged 8; Thomas aged 7; Arthur aged 5; Edith aged 4; William aged 3; and Walter aged 1.
The 1891 census finds the family still resident in The Street, Cobham. Thomas is still a “gas manager for the Cobham Gas Company” and still married to Maria. There seems to have been an explosion in the size of the family. George is a gardener; Thomas an assistant green keeper; Edith, William and Walter are still at school and new since the previous census are Henry aged 9; Frederick aged 7; Florence aged 5; Daisy aged 3; Albert aged 2 and a yet to be named daughter aged 1 month. Lodging with the family is house painter William Denley, aged 34, married, born in Cobham. (*) The family continued to be added to post census with the arrival of Beatrice in 1892; Sydney in 1894 and Elsie in 1896.
In 1901 he was a joiner and fitter lodging in Tenterden High Street at the home of widow Jane Barnes, aged 54, a shop keeper, born Sutton Valence. Her daughter Amy, aged 26, assisting in the shop and son William, aged 21, a barman are also present. In 1903, George married Edith Dines Austen (1881 to 1918, dying of pneumonia and influenza) at Tenterden. The couple had three children - George born and died 1904; Elsie 1907 to 1990 and Dorothy 1910 to 1997.
In 1911 the family resided at Theatre Square, Bells Lane, Tenterden.
On the 13th of November, 1917 he joined the RNAS and was posted to Cranwell (then an RNAS establishment). He contracted cerebro spinal meningitis from which he died on the 8th of March, 1918.
[Sydney Fairs enlisted in the East Surrey Regiment and was made a Lance Corporal, service number 11122; and died 19th November 1916 serving with the 8th Battalion. He has no known grave and is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.]
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