This series of caches are designed to highlight the people who have made Tamworth the great place to live. They might be one of our pioneers, our sporting greats, or our quiet achievers who rose to enormous heights in our society. We love to explore our Australian History and have found some unique gems for all to enjoy.
This is the seventh in our series focussing on Oliver Upjohn. (1848-1898)
When Oliver Robert Upjohn was born on 22 June 1848, his father, Oliver, was 27 and his mother, Hannah, was 19. He married Elizabeth Margaret Mills on 13 February 1873 in Sydney, New South Wales. They had four children during their marriage. He died on 23 May 1898 in Tamworth, New South Wales, at the age of 49, and was buried there.
Oliver Upjohn was born in England in 1858 and came to Australia as a 10 year old, where his father had already established a watchmaker business in 1855. He worked with his father until 1868, returning to England, then coming back in 1873 to work as a watchmaker and jeweller in Murrurundi. He moved to Tamworth in 1877, establishing his business opposite today's Coles Supermarket in Peel Street. In 1888 he also opened a Music Warehouse. Within his community involvement was membership of the first Tamworth Gun Club, Tamworth Farmers Society and Tamworth Masonic Lodge, as well as being a Director of the Tamworth Gas Company formed in 1881, and President of the Tamworth AFL Football Club in 1888. He passed away at age 50 in 1898.
