E. R. Hallifax was born on 17 February 1874, as the 7th son of Benjamin Wilson Hallifax and Mary Anne Cox.
Mr. E. R. Hallifax was a younger brother of Mr. F. J. Hallifax,[REF] aka Mr. Federick James Hallifax, who was President of the Singapore Municipality and formerly President of Municipality of Penang, married Miss Roberta Cunningham, a sister of Mrs. Meiklejohn, in Hawick, Scotland, on 8 July 1913.