Schofields is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

on the fringe of Sydney's

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

, in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Schofields is located north-west of the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...

, in the

Blacktown Blacktown is a suburb in the City of Blacktown, in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Blacktown is located west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Grea ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

. It is part of

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, and far western sub-regions within Sydney's metropoli ...

's North West Growth Area.

Demographics

As at the 2016 Census, Schofields had an estimated population of 4,983. In 2001, Schofields had an estimated population of 3,012. Over the 15-year period, Schofield's population increased by 65.4%. The suburb is on the rural-urban fringe of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, and is expanding rapidly. It is in the NSW Government's North West Growth Area. Schofields has numerous housing developments underway, which are expected to provide over 2,950 new homes. The most common religion in Schofields is

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(30.8%). The second largest religion is No Religion (17.7%). The most spoken language in Schofields is

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, with

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

being the second most spoken language at 3.7%. The majority of people from Schofields identified as

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

(21.3%), followed closely by

(20.4%). The third largest ancestry was

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

at 8.4%.

History

Early history

John Schofield (1803–1884) was

transported ''Transported'' is an Australian convict melodrama film directed by W. J. Lincoln. It is considered a lost film. Plot In England, Jessie Grey is about to marry Leonard Lincoln but the evil Harold Hawk tries to force her to marry him and she w ...

from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to the Colony of New South Wales for stealing when he was just 17 years old. At the time he was a silk weaver from

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. He was transported aboard in 1821 and was assigned to work for Thomas Harley, a free-settler, on his farm at . In 1828, Schofield was granted a

Ticket of Leave A ticket of leave was a document of parole issued to convicts who had shown they could now be trusted with some freedoms. Originally the ticket was issued in Britain and later adapted by the United States, Canada, and Ireland. Jurisdictions ...

, which allowed him to live freely within the district of

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

. In 1829, he married Bridget Harley, the daughter of his former employer. Schofield then rented ''Gillingham Farm'', located near the

Eastern Creek Eastern Creek is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Eastern Creek is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the Blacktown local government area and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region. E ...

. The Schofields delivered eight offspring; five males and three females. In 1841, Schofield bought three blocks of land along the Windsor Road. Unfortunately, due to falling wool prices and a general state of depression in the colony, Schofield became bankrupt in 1843. New government concessions introduced a few years later allowed Schofield to buy of land around the area now known as Schofields in 1845. In 1849, Schofield and two of his sons, William and Samuel, sailed to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

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 after ten days. Schofield 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 Schofield with enough money to pay off his mortgage and develop his keen interest in horseracing. The

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

from to opened in 1864 and passed through Schofield's land. In 1872, a stopping place was recognized 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, Schofield 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.

Modern history

The suburb boundaries of Schofields were changed in November 2020, resulting in the creation of new suburbs of Nirimba Fields and Tallawong in the south and northeast respectively. New Blacktown City suburbs officially named
The National Tribune 2 November 2020

Parks, recreation and essential services

Schofields Park, on Station Street, is the home of the Riverstone Schofields Junior Soccer Football Club and Schofields Cricket Club. The village also has a Community Hall that can be hired out for parties and is also regularly used by the local Church Group on Sunday mornings. The village also has a

NSW Rural Fire Service The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) is a volunteer-based firefighting agency and statutory body of the Government of New South Wales. The NSW RFS is responsible for fire protection to approximately 95% of the land area of New South ...

brigade, known as Schofields Bush Fire Brigade. They regularly attend house fires, car accidents, bush fires and most other emergencies in the area that require fire brigade attendance. A Woolworths Supermarket opened up across the road from the new Schofields railway station. Schofields Village Shopping Centre was completed in mid 2021 also across the road from the train station will include a Coles Supermarket and speciality stores. The suburb was also home to the former Schofields Aerodrome and

HMAS Nirimba HMAS ''Nirimba'' is a former Royal Australian Navy (RAN) training base located at the former RAAF Station Schofields at Nirimba Fields, previously Schofields, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. History ''Nirimba'' is a Darug word meanin ...

and is now the suburb of Nirimba Fields.

Transport

Schofields railway station Schofields railway station is located on the Richmond line, serving the Sydney suburb of Schofields. It is served by Sydney Trains T1 Western and T5 Cumberland line services. History Schofields station opened in 1870. It was named after J ...

is on the Richmond branch of the T1 North Shore & Western Line and T5 Cumberland Line of the

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the operator of the suburban passenger rail network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The network is a hybrid urban- suburban rail system with a central underground core that covers over of track and 170 ...

network. The

Westlink M7 The Westlink M7 or M7 Motorway, formerly Western Sydney Orbital, is a tolled urban motorway in Sydney and is a part of the Sydney Orbital Network. Owned by the NorthWestern Roads (NWR) Group, it connects three motorways: M5 South-West Motorwa ...

and

M2 Hills Motorway The Hills Motorway (also known as the Hills M2 Motorway, M2 Motorway or simply M2) is a tollway in north-western Sydney, Australia, owned by toll road operator Transurban. It forms majority of Sydney's M2 route and part of the 110 km Sydn ...

provide easy road access from both the south and the east.

Busways Busways is an Australian bus company operating services in Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis ...

provide commuter bus services to/from the suburb.

Places of worship

Lankarama Buddhist Vihara (Sri Lankan Buddhist Temple) is located on Oak Street.

References

External links

Revised suburb boundary of Schofields
(November 2020) - Blacktown City Council {{Sydney Blacktown suburbs Suburbs of Sydney City of Blacktown