Schofields, New South Wales

Schofields is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Schofields is located 45 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown. Schofields is part of the Greater Western Sydney.

History
John Schofield (1803–1884) was transported from England to New South Wales for stealing when he was just 17 years old. At the time he was a silk weaver from Cheshire, England. He was transported to Australia aboard the Minerva in 1821 and was assigned to work for a free-settler named Thomas Harley, on his farm at Baulkham Hills.

In 1828, John was granted a Ticket of Leave, which allowed him to live freely within the district of Parramatta. In 1829, he married Bridget Harley, the daughter of his former employer Thomas Harley. John then found a farm to rent, as he could not afford to buy one of his own. The farm he rented was called Gillingham Farm and was at Eastern Creek.

During their marriage, John and Bridget had 8 children, 5 boys and 3 girls. In 1841, John bought 3 quarter acre blocks of land along the Windsor Road. Unfortunately, due to falling wool prices and a general state of depression in the colony, John became bankrupt in 1843. New government concessions introduced a few years later allowed John to buy 600 acre of land around the area now known as Schofields in 1845.

In 1849, John and two of his sons, William and Samuel, sailed to California on the West Coast of America in the hope of finding gold. He returned in 1850 with some gold, but their ship, the Rosetta Joseph struck land and became ship wrecked. Aboard life-boats and in very rough seas, the passengers were rescued at Port Macquarie after 10 days. John and his sons returned to their farm with enough gold to pay off most of his debts. Just before Christmas in 1851, Bridget Schofield died.

The discovery of gold in New South Wales and a rise in the economy provided John with enough money to pay off his mortgage and develop his keen interest in horseracing.

A train line from Blacktown to Windsor opened in 1864 and passed through Schofield's land. In 1872, a stopping place was recognised on Schofield's land and a small platform made from railway sleepers was built after that to make boarding the train safer. This platform was known as Schofield's Siding. The name changed over the years to Schofields.

In his later life, John set up a sawmill beside the railway line and used the trees from his paddocks in Schofields to supply timber for housing. John Schofield died in 1884.

Transport
Schofields railway station is on the Richmond branch of the Western railway line of the Cityrail network. The suburb is also home to the now unused Schofields Aerodrome and HMAS Nirimba.

Parks and recreation
Schofields Park, on Station Street, is the home of the Riverstone Schofields Junior Soccer Football Club.