Francis and Mark Foy - retail tycoon's publicity stunt astounded rivals

(Daily Mirror, January 24, 1979)

One summer evening in 1885 two brothers sat on a seat in Sydney's Hyde Park contemplating their future. Across the park in Oxford Street they could see a shop bedecked with gaudy signs and announcing that Mark Foy's drapers, would open for business the next day with a monster sale. Into the shop, named after their late father, the two brothers had put every cent they owned and if it failed they were ruined. But they need not have worried for next morning Mark Foy's was thronged with customers from the time the doors opened.

The two brothers, Francis and Mark Foy, never looked back after that and soon built their business into one of the most successful department stores in Sydney. Its growth was due primarily to the commercial ability of the older brother Francis Foy who had already helped build up the well-known Melbourne store Foy and Gibson's.

Selling out to his partner there because he wanted a free hand to run the business Francis Foy gambled on starting anew in Sydney. He succeeded because his mind bubbled with shrewd business ideas and stunts that soon had Sydney's more conventional retailers worried.

In desperation they tried to thwart Mark Foy's growth by circulating stories that the Foy brothers were Chinese. Francis Foy retaliated by dyeing his hair bright green and standing one St Patrick's Day at the door of his shop with a huge placard. It proclaimed: "Foy is no Chinaman. He's an Irishman - ask the ladies." The younger brother Mark was somewhat overshadowed by the dominating and flamboyant Francis who was 10 years his senior.

FATHERING

He largely left the store that bore his name in Francis's hands and eventually abandoned it to concentrate on other interests such as fathering 18-footer sailing on Sydney Harbour and founding the famous Hydro Majestic Hotel in the Blue Mountains.

The family that made such a mark on Sydney retailing was in fact French in origin. Flour miller Marc Foy migrated from the Somme Valley to Ireland at the time of the French Revolution. He started his own mill at Banagher in County Offaly married an Irish girl and raised and Irish family.

One of his sons, born in 1815, was christened Mark as an anglicised form of his father's French name of Marc. Unlike his brothers young Mark Foy did not go to work in the family mill. Instead in his early teens he went off to Dublin and got a job in the drapers firm of Todd and Burns. With a flair for business he progressed rapidly and was soon promoted from counter-hand to buyer being known in the trade as the "boy buyer."

Mark Foy married an Irish coileen named Mary Macken in 1848 and six children, three girls and three boys, began arriving. With his growing family Mark Foy found that even a buyer's wage was inadequate. So in 1859 he decided to migrate to the golden Eldorado of Victoria.

(Daily Mirror, January 24, 1979)

On arriving in Melbourne he found a job with the Bourke Street drapers Buckley and Nunn but soon launched out with his won shop at Bendigo. His eldest son Francis born in Dublin in 1854 in working in his father's growing store while still at school. At 10 the boy drove a team of bullocks and a dray nearly 160km over a bush track to Melbourne, loaded the dray with merchandise and got it back safely to Bendigo.

The business expanded rapidly and Mark Foy soon had branch stores at Castlemaine, Greytown and Spring Gully Creek. By 1868 he had made enough to close up on the goldfields and open a fine new drapery store in Collingwood Melbourne's busiest suburb.

Francis Foy was then 14 and working full-time for his father. Industrious and with a clever business mind he was the mainstay of Mark Foy's when at 18 he quarrelled with his father. Irish-born Francis always had a "bit o' the divvil" in him as his compatriots would say. O! stocky built with a pugnacious jaw, he could use his fists and indeed it was a fight he had been in that sparked trouble with his father.

Hurt at his father's attitude, young Francis Foy headed for the Melbourne docks and in a short time signed on as a cabin boy on a barque bound for Ireland. He went home to get some clothes bade farewell to his mother and sisters and returned to the ship. By the time his father heard what he was up to the barque was on the point of departure.

Mark Foy raced to the waterfront knowing how stubborn Francis could be he was not going to try to stop him but had put 100 sovereigns in a chamois bag.

The ship was casting off and seeing Francis on deck Mark Foy threw the bag to him. His son picked it up and threw it back. "I need no help," he called "I'll stand or fall on my own feet. Goodbye father." Francis Foy left the ship in Dublin, where he had many relatives and in no time he had a job in the drapery firm of Arnott and Co.

Three years passed and young Foy, at 21, returned to Australia. He rejoined his father's business and before long was virtually running it. When his wife died in 1880 Mark Foy decided he would retire and return to Ireland. Over the next two years he withdrew as much cash as he cold from the business.

A PARTNER

Then in 1882 Mark Foy called he family together and announced he was turning over the business to them. Francis was to run it but his brothers and sisters were also to have shares. Mark Foy sailed for Ireland but never did get home for death claimed him in California not long after he came ashore.

Left with a business seriously short of working capital Francis Foy decided he would have to take in a partner and consulted James Bruce of the warehouse Paterson Laing and Bruce. As it happened, Bruce, a few days later, met a migrant draper from Glasgow, William Gibson, who was looking for a flourishing business in which to invest. Bruce told Gibson to see Francis Foy. "He's one of the cleverest young businessmen in Victoria." Said Bruce. " If you get in with him your future is made."
(Daily Mirror, January 24, 1979)

So Gibson, a much older man, became a partner in the firm. The name was changed to Foy and Gibson's which in time became one of Melbourne's best known stores. But Francis Foy had little part in that development. After three years he decided he could not work in a partnership and told Gibson one of them must buy the other out. They tossed a coin with the winner to continue the business and Foy won but then he noticed his partner's look of anguish and put his hand on his shoulder. "You seem terribly disappointed, William." He said "Do you wish you had won?" Dejectedly Gibson said "yes Francis, I do indeed." Lavpetuously Foy told him to consider that he had won. He said that for $16,000 he would sell the complete Foy interest to Gibson. As the business was worth an estimated $120,000 Gibson wasted no time writing out a cheque for the amount stipulated and Foy walked out.

Francis Foy intended to use the money to start another business in Sydney. His brothers and sisters (whose interest he has sold along with his own) agreed to invest their share with him. So with $16,000 Francis Foy came to Sydney with is brother Mark who had been born in Bendigo in 1864. The youngest brother, Hugh, joined them later.

Francis Foy spent days searching Sydney for a suitable shop to lease before he decided on premises in Oxford Street. He named the shop Mark Foy's after his father's Melbourne business.

From the beginning the store was a moneymaker. Indeed on the opening day police had to be called to disperse the crowds in Oxford Street waiting to enter. Trouble was they were holding up the steam trams. The success of Mark Foy's was mainly due to Francis Foy's business ability and his flair for the unusual.

Instead of periodical sales like other stores he advertised all over Sydney: "Foy's fair is now on." He also invented the slogan: "Aim straight fore Mark Foy's." When balloon ascents were making headlines in Sydney making headlines in Sydney Francis Foy hired one of the balloonists to take off from Hyde Park near his shop. But the balloon got away and wrapped itself round a tower on top of his competitor. Anthony Hordern's in the Haymarket. Old Samuel Hordern was furious, especially when he saw the slogan on the baloon's side: "Aim straight for Mark Foy's."

Mark Foy's developed into a department store and early in the 1900s it was obvious new and bigger premises were essential. Francis Foy had his eye on the island block bounded by Elizabeth , Liverpool, Castlereagh and Goulburn Streets, then a ramshackle warren of small shops, cheap cafes, Chinese herbalists and animal dealers.

There were 15 separate pieces of land in the block and Foy had 15 different people quietly buying them up on his behalf so he got the whole block at a remarkably cheap price ranging from $24 to $40 a foot. Once he had the land Foy took an architect overseas with him to inspect the world's great department stores. Eventually they decided to built on similar lines to the famous Bon Marche in Paris.

The result was Mark Foy's store known as the Plazza and opened in 1908 when Mark Foy retired from active participation in the business. Francis Foy remained in control. He installed the first escalator in Sydney at the Plazza and Mark Foy's was the first Sydney tore to change from horse-drawn to motor delivery vans.

His hobby was racing and he ran a stud farm near Parkes. He named it the Monastery and called the first sire there His Reverence.

Francis prided himself on originality in naming his horses. He once tried to call a son of His Reverence Skin the Goat and when that was rejected substituted No Shenanagan.

Once Foy imported and unnamed English colt. When he was due to be entered for his first race the trainer, John Allsop suddenly remembered the colt had not be named or registered. Allsop raced round to Foy's office but the owner was too busy to be bothered thinking of a name. He therefore waved Allsop out, telling him: "Call him anything you like but let it be something Irish." As Something Irish the horse was duly register red and he subsequently performed well both on the track and as a sire.

CUP DAY

Having spent his early life in Melbourne Francis Foy loved Melbourne Cup Day. He always invited friends to a picnic lunch on tables set up under trees at Flemington and champagne flowed freely.

At the Cup of 1913, although his health was failing, the 64-year-old Francis Foy staged a gayer and happier party than ever before. Just before the race a bookmaker approached and asked Foy if he wanted to have a bet on the Cup. "Not on the Cup said Francis Foy with a wistful smile. "But I'll bet you 3.1 that I don't get back to Sydney alive." Two days later this unique character among Australia's business magnates suffered a heart attack travelling home. He died on the train as it pulled into Goalburn.

The following extract is taken from the "Dictionary of Australian Biography."

MARK FOY

FOY, MARK (1810-1884), draper, was born at Moystown, King's County, Ireland, son of Marc Foy, French emigré and flourmiller, and his wife Catherine, née Hennessy. He was educated at Banagher and was reputedly intended for the legal profession but because of family problems he was apprenticed to a drapery firm in Dublin. In 1858 he arrived at Melbourne in the Champion of the Seas. He probably worked first for Buckley & Nunn but in 1859 went to the goldfields. He had a butcher's shop at Campbell's Creek till 1861 when he moved into a produce store at Castlemaine. In 1873 he went to Bendigo where his brother Francis had a wholesale produce business. Early in 1867 Mark went into partnership with Robert Bentley, a storekeeper. In December 1868 he followed a new rush to Spring Creek, in Melvor Shire, where by January 1869 there was said to be 'a business for every claim at work'. They raw settlement suffered great discomforts and at a public meeting in Foy's premised on 24 February he moved that Spring Creek be constituted a borough. He was elected to a committee for planning separation of the town from nearby Heathcote, the new borough of Graytown was proclaimed on 9 August 1869 and named after Wilson Gray, a family friend. On 11 September Foy became magistrate for the Melvor General Sessions. He also helped to arrange the first borough election and on November was elected a councillor. However, the town's decline continued and he soon dismantled his shop and went to Melbourne. On 11 February 1870 the partnership with Bentley was dissolved 'by mutual consent'.

Foy set up a new drapery shop in Smith Street, Collingwood, where he prospered, occupying three shops by 1875 and six by 1880. At Carrum Swamp he selected 195 acres in November 1871 and later another 129 acres. In November 1882 he settled the Smith Street business on his eldest son Francis, withdrew his capital, brought in William Gibson as Francis's partner and left with his wife for Europe. In San Francisco his health worsened and he died on 14 January 1884. Soon afterwards Francis sold on to Gibson and moved to Sydney to establish a new business under his father's name.

Energetic and resourceful, Foy was described as a 'Liberal Conservative' and was later said to have donated money to Sir James McCulloch's party. He was also sympathetic to the early closing movement. He was married twice: first in Ireland about 1848 to Mary Macken (d. 21 March 1879) by whom he had six surviving children: and second in Melbourne to Catherine Power (d.1930) by whom he had one son.

The following is an obituary of Mark Foy (1865-1950)

FALL CAUSES DEATH OF LEADING BUSINESSMAN

Mr. Mark Foy, who with two other brothers started the firm of Mark Foy's Limited more than 70 years ago, died in St. Vincent's Hospital last night, aged 85.

Mr. Foy, who lived at Victoria Road, Bellevue Hill, died following a fall in his garden at his Bayview cottage. He was admitted to hospital at noon yesterday and died about midnight.

Mr. Foy was in bed about 4 o'clock yesterday morning, when he thought he heard a burglar in the grounds. He got out of bed and was walking through a garden patch when he slipped.

Mr. Foy was one of Sydney's leading business figures. He was known for his generosity and donated large amount to charity. He was also "prominent" in the sporting world. His main activity was sailing and he was the originator of 18ft sailing in Australia. He owned many championship boats and sailed them in England and Europe.

In his youth Mr. Foy was also a good rifle shot. In America when 16 he won several medals for shooting. Mr. Foy was born in Bendigo. His father, an Irishman started the Melbourne firm of "Foy and Gibson."

The Foy family decided to branch out into Sydney, and Mr. Mark Foy and two other brothers came here and established the business. He was the only surviving brother. Mr. Foy built the Hydro Majestic at Medlow Bath.

Sydney Flying Squadron's fleet will fly black mourning ribbons from masts in Saturday's race in the Harbour. This will be the Squadron's tribute to its founder and its patron, Mr. Foy.

Mr. Foy founded the Squadron in 1892 and retained the keenest interest in it until his death. SFS secretary (Mr. W.J. Anderson) said today that all skippers should see black ribbons were flown on Saturday. "Mr. Foy's death has cast gloom over the Sport, his sportsmanship and generosity will long be remembered" added Mr. Anderson.

Mr. Foy is survived by two sons and two daughters. Mr. Mark F. Foy, Mr. F. J. Foy, Mrs. McGahey and Miss Sheila Foy. No arrangements have yet been made for the funeral.

The decline from glory of Medlow Bath's famous Hydro Majestic probably began during World War II, when convalescing American servicemen billeted there played havoc with the historic hotel.

"Instead of getting out of bed to turn a light switch off, they'd shoot the bulb out with a revolver," said Mrs Mary Shaw, grand-daughter of the hotel's founder, Mark Foy. "They had mouse traps hidden on couches and chairs to catch the unwary and they rolled some statuary down the cliffs at the back... They disposed of a herd of wild goats that my grandfather had imported... the whole lot of them for target practice just for something to do."

It was a long way from the hotel's more refined days, initially as a spa built by Foy from a collection of properties he had acquired along the ridge line in the village of Medlow (the "Bath" was added only after the health resort opened in July 1904).

There, all manner of bizarre and curious health treatments - for anything from nerves to migraine to liver complaints - were administered under the supervision of Dr. George Baur, late of Munich. But the "hydropathic sanatorium" was a short-lived fad. Foy cannily transformed it into a tourist destination that was, according to the Blue Mountains' locals studied librarian, John Low, "sophisticated, expensive and very fashionable" and a mecca for Sydney people during the 1920s and 1930s.

Some rooms in the massive hotel (it stretches 300 metres along the cliff top overlooking the Megalong Valley) have been closed for up to 30 years, or used as storerooms. Now, however, it is undergoing a revival under the ownership of the Malaysian businessman Mr King Hock Mah and the management of the Peppers Hotel Group.

Under a conservation plan and development application lodged with the Blue Mountains City Council, an extensive two-year restoration/refurbishment is proposed to take the hotel back as far as possible to its earlier styles.

(The Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday, December, 1997)

Mr Mike O'Connor, managing director of the Peppers Group, said the hotel's 100-odd rooms will be reduced to 84 rooms and the public spaces restored to their individual styles, which range form high Victorian to Art Deco or Moderne. A conservation plan for the 89 hectares of garden, bush walks and surrounds is also being prepared.

When it opened (during a snowstorm), the Hydro boasted its own telephone system, electricity and refrigeration plant. The domed "casino", imported from Chicago, and the guest wings were joined by a long gallery decorated with artworks.

It was a fitting resort for the likes of Nellie Melba (who donated a grand piano to the hotel), Bertha Krupp of the German armaments family, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, King Edward VII (who celebrated his birthday there in 1909) and Sir Edmund Barton (who died there in 1920).

The aim now is to restore the grandeur. They're even likely to install a sauna and steam-room as a tribute to the hydrotherapy that made the hotel famous.

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