Mark Foy was a businessman who established the store called Mark Foy's in Sydney. He also opened the Hydro Majestic Hotel in the Blue Mountains, a hydropathic resort with Swiss doctors and spa water from Baden in Germany. In addition he was a keen sportsman with interests in rifle shooting, boxing, sailing and motor racing.
Early life
Mark Foy was born on 15 February 1865 Bendigo, Victoria in 1865. His father also Mark Foy Snr. had emigrated from Ireland in 1858 with his wife Mary Macken and had gone to the goldfields where he participated in the establishment of various stores. In 1870 he moved to Melbourne where he set up a new drapery shop in Smith Street, Collingwood. This business prospered, occupying three shops by 1875 and six by 1880. Suffering from ill health, he handed the firm to this eldest son Francis and left with his wife for Europe. In San Francisco his health worsened and he died on 14 January 1884. Soon afterwards Francis sold the stores and went with his younger brother Mark to Sydney to establish a new business under his father's name. The brothers opened their Sydney store in 1885 in Oxford Street. The business expanded rapidly and more surrounding stores were opened. A London buying office was set up in 1890, and additional premises in Oxford Street were purchased in 1894. Mark Foy's Fair, a sale usually staged twice a year, became a highly anticipated event on the Sydney shopping calendar. In 1888 Mark Foy married Annie Davey, the daughter of John Davey, a merchant from Melbourne. The couple had no children and in 1900 they were granted a divorce by the NSW Court. In the same year he married Elizabeth Dominica Tweedie who was the head of the Dressmaking Department in his Oxford Street Store. She was also advertised by the store as being a leading fashion expert and designer. The couple had four children, two sons and two daughters.
Sporting life
In 1891 Mark Foy founded the Sydney Flying Squadron Yacht Club. He challenged the sailing conventions of that time by having coloured sails and prize money. The Squadron’s boats were banned from the 1892 National Regatta because they carried coloured emblems. It was claimed that the emblems encouraged gambling and spoiled the look of the white sails on Sydney Harbour. In response Mark organised an opposition regatta which he financed himself and advertised it as a spectacle which could be enjoyed by all members of the public regardless of their social background. In 1898, as Commodore of the Yacht Club, he took his 22 foot boat Irex to England to participate in Australia’s first International Race. Although he did not win the race was a ground breaking event as it began a long history of international competition. Mark was also a motor car enthusiast and owned numerous vehicles. He participated in many motoring events and is pictured here in one of his cars which he imported from France. A Panhard, it was described by the Telegraph as “the first of the powerful French motors to reach Australia”. In 1905 he was interviewed by a reporter and he said that at that time he had fourteen cars in his stable – two Daimlers, two Panhards, seven De Dions, one Liberia, one Firefly and one Oldsmobile. In October 2019 Foy was inducted to the Australian Sailing Hall of Fame.
In July 1904 Mark Foy opened the Hydro Majestic Hotel at Medlow Bath. Several years previously he had bought the Belgravia Hotel and the residence of William Hargraves. Between these he placed the domed concert and dance hall which he had shipped from Chicago. They were linked by buildings one of which was a long gallery which can be seen in the photo on the right. This was described in a newspaper article shortly before the hotel opened in the following terms. The hotel had its own electricity plant, boiler and ice houses, sewerage plant, library, hotel shop, billiard room, grand dining room, art gallery and a telephone in every guest room. The hydropathic therapies were not a success so Mark Foy changed the marketing of the hotel. From 1906 it was advertised as a luxury hotel for the rich and fashionable providing fine food and entertainment. It was patronised by many famous people. Dame Nellie Melba sang at the hotel a number of times as did English Opera singer Dame Clara Butt and Nellie Stewart. Australia's first Prime Minister Sir Edmund Barton actually died in the hotel in 1920. Other famous patrons were Sherlock Holmes' creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Rajah of Pudukkutai with his Australian-born wife, the former Molly Fink. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about the hotel in his autobiographical travel book. He said. Mark Foy used two of his Daimlers to take his guests to Jenolan Caves and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his family went on one of these tours. A photo of this event is shown. Sir Arthur is in the back seat with his wife Jean. In 1922 there was a fire at the hotel and it destroyed the Belgravia hotel, the Belgravia Wing and the art gallery with its entire collection of pictures. These were replaced with the art deco buildings which remain today. Mark Foy died in 1950 at the age of 85 and was buried in South Head Cemetery in Vaucluse.
