Uriah Maggs

Who was Uriah Maggs?

Uriah Maggs founder in 1853 of Maggs Bros Ltd, the longest-established antiquarian booksellers in the world.

He was born in Midsomer Norton in Somerset. In about 1850, he and his father left to start a new life in London. After several failed business ventures he took up bookselling, founding Maggs Bros Ltd. He traded first from his own home, but later opened his first bookshop in 1855 at 44 Westbourne Terrace North, Paddington. He also ran a circulating library and hired out newspapers. From Westbourne Terrace North the business was moved after several years to Church Street, Paddington Green, a site now occupied by the Children's Hospital.

At the end of 1894 Uriah Maggs retired, leaving the business in the hands of his two elder sons, Benjamin and Henry. He died in 1913.

The shop moved premises to 50 Berkeley Square in London in 1938, where it is still based and run by the Maggs family.