William Edward Schofield

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-118913

Other Events:

• Business: Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Hespeler Custom Woollen Mills
• Business: Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; J. Schofield & Co.
• Honoured: Schofield St., Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Name: John Scofield
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-24732
• Occupation: 1867, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; pedlar
• Occupation: 1871, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Cloth Manufacturer
• Elected Office: 1875, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; councillor of Hespeler
• Occupation: 1881, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; woollen manufacturer
• Occupation: 1896, Oshawa, Ontario Co., Ontario; manufacturer

Notes:

During the twentieth century, perhaps the single most important employer in Hespeler was the Dominion Woollens and Worsteds. A later version of the R. Forbes Company, this enterprise was one of the largest woollen mills in the British Empire and it was probably the largest in Canada producing a high quality textile. It is estimated that approximately 1,200 people (40% of the population of the town) were employed there, which caused it to be known as "The Company of Neighbours" (McLaughlin 2006: 15, 63). Forbes continued the paternalistic role begun by Hespeler, and even with the sale of the company in 1928 to the Toronto-based syndicate who renamed it "Dominion Woollens and Worsteds", the benevolent dominance of the company in town affairs continued (McLaughlin and Fleuren 2006).

The origins of this mill may be traced back to Jacob Hespeler's cotton mill which he sold in 1863, to a group of businessmen who renamed it Randall Farr & Co. The business was expanded during the 1860s, and sold to Jonathan Schofield and Robert Forbes in 1874. Forbes bought out the interest of Schofield in 1880, after which the firm was known as "R. Forbes & Co." During the late nineteenth century, textile workers from Scotland were enticed to settle in Hespeler with the promise of steady employment at the mills, and new subdivisions were developed in order to provide housing for the mill workers during the 1920s.


Cambridge Heritage Master Plan Final Report, The Corporation of the City of Cambridge by Bray Heritage. Jun 2008

_________________________


In 1870 he [Robert Forbes] tore down the old tannery and stave mill in Hespeler and replaced it with a modern stone factory to manufacture woollen goods in partnership with Jonathan Schofield. The new company known as J. Schofield and Co. later changed its name to Star Woollens and manufactured flannels, tweeds and druggets (carpets) as well as cloth with large plaid designs. In 1871, the Forbes family moved again to an estate he named ‚Summerhill in Guelph. His new factory operated only until 1874 when the partners purchased the large woollen mill of Randall, Farr & Co. on Queen St. West (Len's Mill Outlet today). Following business and personal differences, Mr. Forbes bought out the interests of Mr. Schofield and the partnership was dissolved in 1880. The company operated as R. Forbes & Co. until 1888 when it was incorporated as R. Forbes Co. Ltd. with George Duthie Forbes as president and older brother James Hyde Forbes as a company director.


Hespeler Happenings, The Company of Neighbours Spring 2011

_____________________

JONATHAN SCHOFIELD.

Jonathan Schofield, senior partner of the Schofield Woollen Mills Company of Oshawa, was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, in August, 1829, a son of Edmond and Alice (Wolfenden) Schofield. At a very early age entered business life, securing employment in a cotton mill, where he remained for several years. Thinking to enjoy better business opportunities in the new world, he crossed the Atlantic to the United States in 1854. Soon afterward, however, he returned to England, but came again in 1860 and from the States made his way to Canada in 1863, locating at Hespeler, where he was employed for some time in the woollen mills. When economy and industry had brought him a reputation he was assisted in starting a mill on his own account by Mr. Robert Forbes and Goldie & McCulloch of Galt, Ontario, in 1867 and in 1870 he admitted Robert Forbes to a partnership under the firm style of J. Schofield & Company. In 1880 he sold his interest to Mr. Forbes and removed to Paris, where he became connected with a knitted goods factory, this association being maintained until 1892, when the mill was destroyed by fire. He then came to Oshawa and purchased the property formerly occupied by the Mason Manufacturing Company. Again he embarked in the knitting business, employing from thirty to forty workmen. The trade has steadily grown and now gives employment to one hundred and fifty people in the manufacture of men's knitted top shirts and underwear. The company turns out only high grade goods, the principal brand being Woolnap unshrinkable underwear. They sell exclusively to the wholesale trade and there is no wholesale warehouse in the Dominion handing men's goods where the output of the Schofield knitting mills is not represented. The company are importers of wool, fully seven-eighths of their output being manufactured from foreign grown material.

Mr. Schofield has two sons, John Arthur and Charles Edgar, who are associated with him in the business and assume a large share of its management. Although the father is now seventy-eight years of age he is still a most active and energetic business man and his advice and counsel are an important element in the conduct of the business, which under his guidance has grown to extensive and profitable proportions. In religious faith he is an Anglican and in political affiliation a Conservative.

A History of Ontario: its resources and development

Honoured:
Schofield Street was named to honor Jonathan Schofield.

Jonathan — Agnes Dent. Agnes was born CALC 6 May 1839, , England; died 23 Mar 1877, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , New Hope Cemetery, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Agnes Schofield
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-27679