Joseph Uprichard came from Bleary, County Down in Northern Ireland. His father had some kind of spinning mill but died when Joseph was only 12. He was the youngest of the family. He married Mary and they sailed to New Zealand with their first three children, Rebekah, John and baby Ellin, in the sailing ship Zealandia, reaching Lyttleton on May 24th 1862. From Lyttleton they trekked over the hill to what was then the small town of Christchurch. From Christchurch the family went to Akaroa on Banks Peninsular. Their they had Joseph (Jnr) and Mary. They had sufficient capital to establish themselves on good farming land but lacked any farming experience. Instead of settling in Akaroa, in 1865 they bought land at Loburn becasue it was flat and looked easy to work. However it had poor soil. But there were nieghbours and less isolation. Their house was a whitewashed sod house with seven large rooms and they raised 10 children who all established themselves in and around the district. Three of the girls married shepherds who had sailed out from Scotland on the Wairoa in 1882: William Elliot married Belle Uprichard, William Anderson married Mary Uprichard and Jasper Stewart married Esther Uprichard. The Uprichard name underwent changes around 1870 becoming Upritchard and U'Prichard used by some members of the family.