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The Scholey and Upfold Family Papers of Mrs Marion Faulkner

Introduction

During the early part of 2001, negotiations began with Mrs Marion Faulkner and her family for the deposit of her significant collection of papers, photographs and artefacts of the Scholey and Upfold families with the University of Newcastle's ARBSC (now Cultural Collections) Unit.

The Scholey and Upfold families are closely connected with the early agricultural and industrial pioneering history of the Hunter Region, especially locally in the suburbs of Waratah and Mayfield. Charles Upfold (1834-1919), for instance, is reponsible for the establishment of the Sydney Soap and Candle Company Ltd North Waratah works (once located in what is now Mayfield East), and along with John Scholey, had various agricultural, smelting, coalmining and mineral interests in the wider Hunter Region.The earliest item dates from 1827, and the collection spans most of the 19th and early twentieth centuries forming an interesting and intimate look at the business interests of pioneering families of the Hunter Region.

Such a collection is of enormous research interest and we must thank the efforts of Mrs Marj Cramp of the Newcastle & Hunter District Historical Society who initiated and arranged meetings with the family representatives, Mrs Margaret Burns, Mrs Margaret Faulkner and Mrs Barbara Sharpe (nee Upfold). Marion Faulkner is the daughter of Clara Scholey, who in turn was a daughter of John and Ann Scholey.

John Scholey was born in Leeds, England on the 15th September 1840 and was the only son of Stephen Scholey. (He was also born in Leeds, Yorkshire, on 22nd January 1815, married Ann Spink and served as M.L.A. for East Maitland and Warden of the Maitland District Council. He died on the 13th May 1878 aged 63 years). John arrived in Sydney New South Wales on 14th March 1854, presumably with his family, and spent his early years in Maitland. After a trip to England in 1860 (see scanned diary ) he returned and began a business in Newcastle in 1862. He married Anne Greaves (1845 - 1931) on the 16th January 1865 and had a family of seven daughters, Annie Greaves (1866 - 1869), Clara (1868 - 1945), Susan (1870 - 1966), Ada May (1874 - 1941), Agnes Eliza (1889 - 1972), Dora Spink (1880 - 1962) and Jessie Greaves (1883 - 1959). He followed in his father's footsteps as a butcher, but later became a land speculator and successful businessman. He acquired much property in the Newcastle and Maitland districts, and was proprietor of the Richmond Vale Colliery Estate at Kurri Kurri, and responsible for the syndicate which sunk the Colliery there in 1890. He served as alderman of Waratah Municipal Council for some years and was thrice elected Mayor beginning in 1883. He was Guarantor of the Waratah School of Arts and was responsible for the establishment of the Newcastle Gas Works in Waratah. He was also a member of the Newcastle Land Board and Director of the Newcastle & County Building Society.

John Scholey founded the Newcastle suburb of Mayfield, which he had subdivided from his property and named it after his young daughter May. He was active in the Anglican Church being Church Warden of St Andrews, Mayfield, as well as Diocesan Warden of Christ Church Cathedral Newcastle, a member of the Church Property Committee and Diocesan Council and Lay Representative of the Synod. He died in Mayfield on the 14th April 1908 aged 67 years and was buried in the Anglican Cemetery in Sandgate. Present at the funeral was his old friend Charles Upfold.

Charles Upfold, pioneer manufacturer, was born in Walworth, Surry on the 15th December 1834, and began his apprenticeship at 14 years of age as a soap and candle maker in the employ of John Knight's Factory at Wapping. He arrived in Australia in July 1860 and worked in the Apollo Soap Company in Victoria before coming to Newcastle in 1863. On the 4th July 1864 he married Sarah Ann Temperance Blundell at St Mary's Church West Maitland, and together they had ten children. He began a soap making business in Wickham, which soon expanded to three factories trading under the name of the Great Northern Soap and Candle Factory. He eventually built a larger works, utilising the latest technology of the times, in North Waratah (now Mayfield East). This was known as the Sydney Soap and Candle Company Limited. His other interests included two ships, a copper smelting works and property known as the "Orange Grove" at Raymond Terrace, where he planted vineyards and citrus trees and devised chemical sprays for combating plant diseases and insect pests . He was awarded an Order of Merit award from the Department of Agriculture in 1891. Charles left Raymond Terrace in 1905, leaving his son Robert Upfold to continue the family business, but unfortunately he died in 1910. The company was then sold to Messrs. Kitchen & Sons. Charles Upfold died on the 14th March 1919 aged 84 at Chatswood. [Many thanks to Mrs Barbara Sharp, whose historical research on the Upfold family was used in the preparation of this piece].

Mrs Anne Scholey, widow of John Scholey died on the 24th March 1931 aged 85. A major part of her estate went to her surviving daughters, Agnes Eliza Scholey, Clara Upfold, May Ellis, Susie Ritchie, Dora Bragg and Jessie Bragg. Other beneficiaries included the Trustees of the St Andrew's Church of England Mayfield, The Church of England Hostel for Girls Darby Street Newcastle, St Nicholas' Church of England Mayfield, St Michael's Church of England Mayfield and her former employee Mrs Southon of Mayfield East.

The papers arrived in May and completely accessioned in June. The shelf listing below contains shelf numbers and descriptions of the items in the collection. Where the item has been scanned or digitised, a clickable thumbnail image is provided to allow access to the larger image. We sincerely thank the family representatives who have given their permission to digitally reproduce selected items from the collection for our researchers. I hope you enjoy our presentation.

Gionni Di Gravio
ARBSC Unit
June 2001

Postscript August 2006: Thankyou to Sandra Twining for her help in correcting and providing additional information relating to some of the family entries in this finding aid.

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