Scholefield had worked on the publication for over 30 years and received government assistance when the biography was included in the list of books to be published for the New Zealand centenary.
[4] Scholefield's work received glowing reviews in the newspapers,[5][6][7] with the sentiment of Kerehi, the reviewer for The New Zealand Herald, echoed by most newspapers: Dr. G. H. Scholefield's Dictionary of New Zealand Biography stands out as one of the most permanently valuable works of reference yet produced in the Dominion.
It is an excellent legacy from the Centennial year.The work was modelled on the British Dictionary of National Biography.
[1] Of those New Zealanders who reached the age of 24, the Auckland Star estimates that 1 in 2500 people received an entry in Scholefield's biography.
[2] Instead, the government approved in 1959 the production of An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand by the then-parliamentary librarian, Alexander Hare McLintock.