Background
Upton was born at Wilmslow, Cheshire, on 10 December 1670.
Upton was born at Wilmslow, Cheshire, on 10 December 1670.
He was educated at Eton College, and was elected a fellow of King"s College, Cambridge, where he graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1697, and Master of Arts
In 1701. At the request of John Newborough, the headmaster, Upton returned to Eton as an assistant master, around 1798. In 1704, at the request of Lord Poulett and others, Upton moved from Eton to Ilminster Grammar School, Somerset, where he took pupils. In 1712, he was appointed headmaster of Taunton Grammar School, which became, according to Joshua Toulmin, the largest provincial school in England, having over two hundred boys.
Before 1711 he received the rectory of Brimpton, near Yeovil, and in 1712 the rectory of Monksilver, near Taunton, both from the Sydenham family.
In 1731 Upton received the vicarage of Bishop"s Hull, Somerset. He died at Taunton on 13 August 1749.
From the second daughter Ann descended the Tripp family of Huntspill and Sampford Brett, Somerset. The second son was John Upton (1707–1760), now remembered as editor of the Faerie Queene.