For generations of New Zealand schoolchildren, the Whitcombe name appeared on the books through which they discovered reading, arithmetic and the wider world.
Behind that familiar name stood a family business, and one of its longest-serving leaders: Bertie Ernest Hawkes Whitcombe (1875–1963). His career connects the story of a Christchurch printing firm with the everyday lives of readers across New Zealand and Australia.
From apprentice to managing director
Bertie was born in Christchurch on 6 October 1875, the son of George Hawkes Whitcombe and Mary Hall.
In 1882, George joined forces with printer George Tombs. Together they established Whitcombe and Tombs, combining bookselling, printing and publishing in one business. The company would become a major force in New Zealand’s book trade.
Bertie entered its printing workshop as an apprentice at about fourteen. Further training took him to Britain and Queensland, followed by management roles in Dunedin, Wellington and Melbourne.
He later ran the firm’s London buying office, selecting stock for shops on the other side of the world. In 1913, he married Fannie Allingham Morrow in Essex.
Following his father’s death in 1917, Bertie became managing director. He held the position for 41 years, with an association with the firm that ultimately stretched over seven decades.
A family business with a human face
Bertie preferred walking through shops and workshops, talking with staff and customers, to remaining behind an office door. He was remembered for handing out barley sugar along the way.
There was a strong family presence across the business. During the 1920s, nearly all its branches were managed by Whitcombe brothers.
That combination gives the story its character: a large publishing and retail operation whose leadership still revolved around one family.
Books for classrooms, homes and curious minds
Whitcombe and Tombs dominated New Zealand’s educational publishing market from the mid-1880s until around 1940. Its range grew to cover almost every primary school subject, alongside school stationery.
One series, the Pacific Readers, sold in substantial numbers between 1911 and 1931, with some individual readers reaching 175,000 copies.
The firm also developed publications for Australian schools, adapting material for different states. Its reach extended well beyond its Christchurch beginnings.
Nor was everything intended for the classroom. The publishing list included cookery, gardening, science, technical subjects, history and biography: books designed to be useful in daily life.
Bertie’s significance lies partly in that ordinary usefulness. A publisher can leave a mark through the books people turn to when learning a skill, preparing a meal or answering a child’s question.
Twelve million storybooks
Perhaps the most memorable part of the firm’s output was Whitcombe’s Story Books.
Launched in 1908, before Bertie became managing director, the series offered supplementary reading through reprints and adaptations of stories from many sources. It continued through much of his leadership.
According to Te Ara, it grew to around 450 titles in more than 1,500 editions, with reported sales exceeding 12 million copies by 1962.
Those figures give a sense of the scale. Beyond textbooks and exercises, the Whitcombe name also accompanied children into the pleasure of reading a story.
A legacy we can still investigate
Bertie retired as managing director in 1958 and remained chairman until 1962. He died in Wellington on 16 June 1963.
His story has left traces beyond the printed page. Christchurch City Council identifies 122 Park Terrace as the former home of Bertie and Fannie Whitcombe, recognising its historical association with the publishing family.
Auckland Museum’s Whitcoulls archive offers another connection. Its inventory lists 81 letters from George Hawkes Whitcombe to Bertie, dated 1907–1916, together with family photographs, personal papers and material from a dinner celebrating Bertie’s 80th birthday in 1955.
The catalogue confirms that these records exist; the letters themselves remain a promising subject for further research. They may help us understand the relationship between father and son as well as the business they shaped.
In 1971, Whitcombe and Tombs merged with Coulls Somerville Wilkie. The business was renamed Whitcoulls in 1973, carrying part of the Whitcombe name into another chapter of New Zealand bookselling.
For the Whitcombe Family Network, Bertie’s story is a reminder that a family legacy can reach far beyond a family tree. Sometimes it is found in a schoolbook, a familiar shop name, or a story remembered long after childhood.
Do you remember Whitcombe’s Story Books, or have a family connection with Whitcombe and Tombs? We would love to hear your memories. Share them in the Whitcombe Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/whitcombe
Sources and further reading
- Dennis McEldowney, “Whitcombe, Bertie Ernest Hawkes”, Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3w9/whitcombe-bertie-ernest-hawkes
- Whitcombe & Thombs Building. Built in Dunden. https://builtindunedin.com/2015/06/28/whitcombe-tombs-building/
- Elizabeth Caffin, “Educational publishing and Whitcombe and Tombs”, Te Ara, 2014. https://teara.govt.nz/en/publishing/page-3
- Christchurch City Council, heritage assessment for 122 Park Terrace, heritage item 446, 2015, in the natural and cultural heritage assessments. https://resources.ccc.govt.nz/files/policiesreportsstrategies/natural_and_cultural_heritage_section32_appendix8.3.pdf
- Auckland Museum, Whitcoulls Archive inventory, MS 99/95, particularly the Whitcombe family papers and folders 59–60. The inventory was consulted; the underlying letters and personal papers were not examined. https://media.api.aucklandmuseum.com/id/media/p/f36eb2371d66475ffd377fa16e9d1d8b646b5115?rendering=original.pdf
- Whitcoulls, “Novel Move for Whitcoulls Lambton Quay”, press release published by Scoop, 19 April 2012. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1204/S00683/novel-move-for-whitcoulls-lambton-quay.htm