Fairbridge

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A surname and proper name tied to the early twentieth-century charitable child farm schools set up in Western Australia and Canada
2. A proper name, chiefly a surname, associated with the British-founded child emigration and farm school schemes of Australia and Canada
3. A surname linked to the charitable farm schools that once housed and trained young emigrant children in Western Australia and Canada

Etymology: "Fairbridge" is best known as a surname, most famously that of Kingsley Fairbridge, the South African-born reformer who founded farm schools for orphaned and poor British children, sending them to live and work on farms in Western Australia. The institutions that carried his name spread the word far beyond its origins as a family name. As a surname, it most likely comes from an English place name built from Old English elements meaning "fair" (beautiful or pleasant) and "bridge." Families often took their surnames from the places where they lived, so the name probably began with someone who lived by a notable bridge.