[Humble thanks to the editor of WikiPedia's Mayfield from whom I borrowed this the page text on which to hang the images. Read the full article on WikiPedia and the excellent photo gallery, too.]

Mayfield is a north-western suburb of Newcastle which takes its name from Ada May (b.1874) a daughter of landowner John Scholey.

Its boundaries are the Hunter River to the north, the Great Northern Railway on the south, Tighes Hill to the east, and Warrabrook in the west, beyond Mayfield West.

Much of Mayfield was originally named North Waratah till in 1938 the NSW Parliament created a “City of Greater Newcastle”, incorporating 11 municipalities into one local government area, including Waratah. Until it was subdivided by Scholey and the land put up for sale, it was largely semi-forested scrub and fields.

Mayfield was originally a pleasant garden suburb on the outskirts of Newcastle, and by 1901 contained a Roman Catholic monastery, and several fine Victorian mansions belonging to prominent businessmen and lawyers.

They included N.B.Creer (three times Mayor of Waratah), Charles Upfold (Soap Manufacturer) who built a large mansion on a piece of land in Crebert Street given to him by his friend John Scholey. It was later sold to the famous Biscuit manufacturer, William Arnott who named the mansion “Arnott Holme”.

Arnott then sold it in 1898 to Isaac Winn, owner of a large Newcastle department store. Winn renamed the mansion “Winn Court” and John Scholey’s “Mayfield House”, for which the sandstone was brought from England.

The BHP constructed, in the early 1920s, a beautiful mansion in Crebert Street  with extensive gardens, for their General Manager. Now privately owned and named The Bella Vista, it is used as a weddings and functions centre.