Joseph Oliver was a farmer and merchant who lived in Hinchinbrooke and Godmanchester, Quebec. He was born in 1802 near Harbottle, England. He married Sarah Kelly on 29 January 1841, and they had nine children together: Mary Jane, John, Robert N. Joseph, Sarah A. Janie, Annie M., George C., and Helen V. He died on 14 November 1863 in Godmanchester. His wife, Sarah, continued working as a merchant after his death.

Oliver and Boyd was a British publishing and printing firm. It was founded in Edinburgh by Thomas Oliver (1776-1853) and George Boyd ( -1843) around 1807/1808. The firm operated from the 1820s until the 1970s at the same location in Edinburgh. They were an innovative firm because, by the 1830s, they were publishing, printing and bookbinding their books on their own premises. From 1811 to 1841, Oliver and Boyd issued several catalogues for the firm's juvenile books. After Thomas Oliver retired and George Boyd died in 1843, the firm remained under family control with George's nephew Thomas Jamieson Boyd as managing partner and senior partner from 1869 to 1894. During this period, the firm gained a reputation for publishing educational, science and medical books. In 1896, three Edinburgh booksellers, George and James Thin and John Grant, acquired the firm. In 1962, the Financial Times group took over and, later Longmans gained control over its publishing operations. Oliver and Boyd ceased operations in 1990.