Kempthorne Prosser

Kempthorne Prosser & Co. Ltd, also known as the New Zealand Drug Company Ltd, was the leading drug and fertiliser manufacturer in New Zealand from 1869 until 1978. The company's full name was Kempthorne Prosser & Co.'s New Zealand Drug Co. Ltd, established in Dunedin.

The Kempthorne Prosser logo
Kempthorne Prosser Office Sign
1930s Kempthorne Prosser Ltd invoice, Auckland.
The site of 1881 Kempthorne Prosser Burnside Chemical Works in Dunedin. The last remaining building is pictured at middle right.
The remains of the Kempthorne Prosser Chemical Works at Aramoho, Wanganui.
The Kempthorne Prosser staff picnic at Waitati, Dunedin, 1913.

Thomas Whitelock Kempthorne and Evan Prosser entered into business together in 1870 as chemists.[1] They set up Kempthorne Prosser, which became a limited liability company in 1879. The head office was set up on Stafford Street in City Rise, Dunedin. In 1904 Thomas Whitelock Kempthorne retired. Kempthorne Prosser & Co became Kempthorne Prosser & Co. Ltd in 1879 when the New Zealand Drug Company was formed.

  1. ^ Parry, Gordon. "Thomas Whitelock Kempthorne". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 4 September 2014.