Charles Upfold Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 (9 September 1887), was an English soap manufacturer of great prominence in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Family & background

Charles Upfold was born in Grove Street, Walworth Common, (both now gone), Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

 (today Walworth, London

Walworth, London

Walworth is an inner-city district in the London Borough of Southwark. Walworth probably derives its name from the Old English "Wealhworth" which meant Welsh farm. It is located south east of Charing Cross and near to Camberwell and Elephant and Castle.The major streets in Walworth are the Old...

), then a prosperous middle-class district. His father, John Upfold, was a fellmonger

Fellmonger

A fellmonger was a dealer in hides or skins, particularly sheepskins, who might also prepare skins for tanning. The name is derived from the Old English ‘fell’ meaning skins and ‘monger’ meaning dealer...

. Charles was baptised in Sir John Soane

John Soane

Sir John Soane, RA was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. His architectural works are distinguished by their clean lines, massing of simple form, decisive detailing, careful proportions and skilful use of light sources...

's new St.Peter's Church of England at Walworth, on 7 January 1835. An excellent photograph of this splendid church can be found on page 206 of London's Churches by Christopher Hibbert

Christopher Hibbert

Christopher Hibbert, MC, FRSL, FRGS was an English writer, historian and biographer. He has been called "a pearl of biographers" and "probably the most widely-read popular historian of our time and undoubtedly one of the most prolific"...

.

Charles Upfold served his apprenticeship as a soap maker with John Knight & Co. at their Wapping

Wapping

Wapping is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets which forms part of the Docklands to the east of the City of London. It is situated between the north bank of the River Thames and the ancient thoroughfare simply called The Highway...

 soapworks in London, just across the river from the parishes where Charles's father resided and worked. Knight's Castile soap is still sold today. His sister, Eliza, married John Knight junior. Charles was later a Director of Knights.

Charles appears on the UK 1851 Census Return, with his parents and married sister Eliza at 11 Brandon Street, parish of St.Mary Newington, London

Newington, London

Newington is a district of London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was an ancient parish and the site of the early administration of the county of Surrey...

, (then in Surrey), where he is described as a "soap maker".

Business in New South Wales

In 1860 he was already engaged in business in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 and upon his marriage at West Maitland, New South Wales

Maitland, New South Wales

Maitland is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle...

 in 1864 (to Sarah, née Blundell, from Finchley

Finchley

Finchley is a district in Barnet in north London, England. Finchley is on high ground, about north of Charing Cross. It formed an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, becoming a municipal borough in 1933, and has formed part of Greater London since 1965...

), he was described as a "soap maker". When his first son, John, was born in 1865 at Morpeth, New South Wales

Morpeth, New South Wales

Morpeth is a suburb of the City of Maitland Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the southern banks of the Hunter River at the border between the City of Maitland and Port Stephens Council LGAs...

, Charles was described as a soap-boiler, aged 27 years and born at Walworth, London, England. When his son Robert was born in 1869, Charles was described as a "soap manufacturer".

That year Charles Upfold purchased the soap and candle factory of Frederick Nainby at Wickham and Honeysuckle Point, Newcastle

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

, and in the Newcastle Chronicle of 16 May 1869 there is a reference to the "Great Northern Soap and Candle Works, proprietor, Charles Upfold." By the following year Upfolds plants were producing 9,420 hundredweight of soap and 600 cwt of candles. By 1872 soap production had increased to 21,000 cwt. Most was exported, much to China. That year Upfold expanded his Australian trading links by establishing a Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 office at 50 Clarence Street.

By 1873 Charles Upfold was an Alderman of the newly incorporated Municipality of Wickham, a position he held for some years as evidenced by his further nomination for the Tighe's Hill Ward published in the Newcastle Morning Herald on 21 January 1888.

In 1877 Charles Upfold was back in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and visiting factories in England. The following year the New South Wales Official Post Office Directory, has listed under the now entirely separate heading of "Wickham", "Charles Upfold, soap manufacturer" (p. 621). Interestingly, also in Wickham in the same directory were Charles's three brothers-in-law, Albert, James, and John Blundell, who came from Finchley

Finchley

Finchley is a district in Barnet in north London, England. Finchley is on high ground, about north of Charing Cross. It formed an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, becoming a municipal borough in 1933, and has formed part of Greater London since 1965...

, Middlesex, (north London), and were clearly all working for Charles as their occupations are given as soap-boilers.

Expansion

In 1885 Charles Upfold was rapidly expanding his industrial base, having purchased further land at Newcastle, this time from Peter Crebert, a wine merchant, whose daughter Elizabeth would later marry Charles's eldest son, John. Upfold's company called for tenders for the building of a new works costing £50,000, and the installation of machinery valued at a further £83,000, on a twenty two acres site at Port Waratah, close to the Ferndale Colliery at Tighe's Hill, whence cheap coal was expected. The soap making equipment was the 'newest American' but English manufacturers had supplied the candle making plant. These works were the largest in Australia.

The following notice from the Newcastle Morning Herald on 23 March 1886, states: "A representative of this journal called at the Tighe's Hill Soap Works on Saturday last to see what progress was being made. There are four distinct departments: 1. The manufacture of soap - toilet, household and soft, 2. Stearine and parafine candles, 3. Refining glycerine, 4. Making all kinds of lubricating oils and machinery grease. The soap department is very nearly in full swing. Toilet soap was started last Saturday. Large quantities of candles are being turned out, which have to be pronounced up to the highest standard, imported or colonial. Preparations are in full swing for exhibiting the works in the fullest manner on the occasion of Lord & Lady Carrington's visit. At the Wickham works plant is being erected for the manufacture of blue, blacking and grocer's sundries. Altogether, this is one of the most gigantic undertakings of its kind in Australia."

He eventually controlled the colony's largest soap industry - The Sydney Soap and Candle Company, in which John Ambrose Kitchen, who had a small factory at Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, had a minority interest, was registered 25 July 1885. As the name implies, the registered office, along with a smaller manufactury at Botany, was at Sydney, the capital city of the colony, but the biggest works by far were at Tighes Hill, Newcastle. Probably their most famous product, one which stood the test of time, was Siren soap, which was later renamed Velvet. It was still being marketed in N.S.W., by Unilever

Unilever

Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....

 in the latter part of the 20th century. Many argued that it was superior to Lever Bros famous Sunlight soap.

In the 1888 Official Post Office Directory for New South Wales, Newcastle District, (p. 424), there appears "Upfold, Charles, soap factory".

On the 6 April 1895 the Newcastle Morning Herald carried a large article entitled "Departure of Mr Charles Upfold - Citizen's Send-off". Charles was about to depart for England, Europe and America, and a large function was given in his honour at the Centennial Hotel in Newcastle, with an impressive guest list of local worthies. He returned from that overseas trip at the end of September and another large article describing his tour appeared in the same newspaper on 3 October 1895.

In 1895 the Port Waratah works employed over 500 people. In 1898 his son, Robert Wallace Upfold, now manager of the soap & candle factory, was married to Clara, daughter of John Scholey

John Scholey

John Scholey was an extensive landed proprietor, prominent businessman, colliery owner, and Mayor...

, (a local landowner and colliery proprietor from Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

; described in the 1901 Federal Directory as a "gentleman"). Charles Upfold, the father, is described on the certificate as "Managing Director - Soap Works". Robert had a residence in Woodstock Street, North Waratah, and the 1901 Federal Directory of Newcastle & District records him as a "manufacturer".

The late professor John Turner wrote: "the modern technology and large scale of the Sydney Soap and Candle Company made it the outstanding industrial establishment of its kind. Upfold had wide experience of colonial conditions and constructed his Port Waratah works on recent British and American lines, in a location which gave unequalled access to tallow and coal."

Civic, family, and death

He continued also with his civic duties, and on 26 February 1900 Charles Upfold laid the Foundation Stone of the Tighe's Hill School of Arts, Newcastle. The stone remains in situ today. He was involved in the Victoria Theatre Company which erected, in 1890, Newcastle's first theatre of an international standard. For many years he was also a member of the committee of the Newcastle Jockey Club. He was also a magistrate

Magistrate

A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...

.

Charles Upfold built a large mansion on a piece of land in Crebert Street, North Waratah (now Mayfield

Mayfield, New South Wales

Mayfield is a north-western suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, which takes its name from Ada May a daughter of the landowner there, John Scholey, J.P...

), given to him by his friend John Scholey

John Scholey

John Scholey was an extensive landed proprietor, prominent businessman, colliery owner, and Mayor...

. It was later sold to the famous biscuit manufacturer William Arnott who sold it in 1898 to Isaac Winn, owner of the big Newcastle department store. It is today a home for the aged, owned by the Methodist Church. Charles Upfold subsequently purchased a small estate near Raymond Terrace

Raymond Terrace, New South Wales

Raymond Terrace is a town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about by road north of Newcastle on the Pacific Highway. Established in 1837 it is situated at the confluence of the Hunter and Williams rivers and has about 12,600 residents. It is the administrative centre of the Port...

, containing extensive vineyards, where he built another fine country residence.

Upfold and his wife, Sarah Ann Temperance (née Blundell) (b.1843, Finchley

Finchley

Finchley is a district in Barnet in north London, England. Finchley is on high ground, about north of Charing Cross. It formed an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, becoming a municipal borough in 1933, and has formed part of Greater London since 1965...

 Common, - d.1921, Cronulla, Sydney) had ten children: four sons and six daughters.

Following his death in Sydney, the Upfolds were bought out by Lever Bros who were also busy acquiring the paid up capital of Kitchen & Co., of Melbourne, Victoria, who also had a stake in the Sydney Soap & Candle Co. This new amalgamated firm became Lever & Kitchen.

Eventually, Levers gained full control & dropped the 'Kitchen' altogether. With the decline in candle-making, the Sino-Japanese war (much of Charles Upfold's exports went to China - he had warehouses in Canton

Guangzhou

Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

 and his son Robert spoke Cantonese), coupled with the now ageing plant, the Newcastle factory was closed down just before World War II, a great blow to the city. A new factory for the Australian Wire Rope Works was built upon its site.

A very long street in the suburb of Mayfield is named Upfold Street after the great man himself.

Although buried in the Gore Hill Congregational Cemetery, Sydney, his funeral service was conducted by a Church of England minister, Rev. Alfred G.Perkins. An extensive obituary appeared in the Newcastle Morning Herald on the 15 March 1919.