Item 1897/1 - Draft Lease

The partners were Thomas Musgrave Francis and Walter Hamond Francis.

This firm of solicitors can trace its origins back to 1789 when Christopher Pemberton set up a legal practice on his own in Cambridge. On his death in 1850 the work of his practice passed to Clement Francis (who had his own legal practice in Cambridge). He worked as a sole practitioner until 1861 when he took into partnership Thomas Webster and Alfred Smith Riches and formed Francis Webster and Riches. This firm continued in business over the years changing its name to reflect the partners involved. Clement Francis died in 1880 and Thomas Musgrave Francis needed assistance in running the business and so looked to his younger brother Walter Hamond Francis. Walter Hamond was completing his articles which he did in 1882. He then work as an assistant solicitor in the firm for five years before being taken into partnership in 1887.