Upton and Company

Upton and Company (1864 - 1914) was a bookseller, stationer, and publisher based in Auckland, New Zealand. The company was founded by William Brown Upton (1840 - 1870), a native of Lincolnshire, England who emigrated to New Zealand in 1858, setting up a bookseller shop in 1864. His brother John Henry Upton (1845 - 1929) arrived in Auckland two years later and became his business partner (going by several names, including Upton, Upton Brothers, W. B. and J. H. Upton, and Upton and Co.), which allowed the business to continue after William's untimely death from illness at age 29. Afterwards, the younger Upton managed the business with his brother-in-law William Gorrie (1840 - 1911). John Henry Upton was a busy man who took on many business and civic roles - including director of several companies, chairman of directors of the Bank of New Zealand, and Mayor of Auckland (1890 - 1891) - presumably leaving Gorrie to handle much of the publishing and bookselling. Upton's sons Parker Tasker (1877 - 1955) and Selwyn (1878 - 1922) also became involved in the business and took over management of it in 1909. But the company ran into financial difficulties and was sold to Whitcombe and Tombs (later Whitcoulls) in 1916.