History

When Jesse Gregson was born in 1759, Canada was still controlled by the French, India was governed by the East India Company and Australia was not yet a penal colony. Jesse was admitted to the Roll of solicitors in 1786 and two years later in 1788 Gregsons Solicitors was born.

By 1793, Gregsons was established at 8 Angel Court in the City of London which was to remain its home for the next 111 years. Jesse was appointed solicitor to The Society for Prosecuting Felons’; and, during the Napoleonic Wars, his son Jonathan entered the practice. Together they assisted Sir Robert Peel in the preparation of the legislation which laid the foundation of the new Police Force.

Following Jesse’s death in 1824, the firm remained with Jonathan who shortly before the outbreak of the Crimean War took into partnership his own son Robert. The line was continued when in 1887, the year of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, Jesse’s great grandson Leonard became a partner. Leonard was joined in 1901 by Frederick W Wareham whose home was in Wimbledon. Here he both sheltered and represented the exiled Emile Zola during the celebrated Dreyfus case.

The firm passed into the hands of Frederick on the retirement of Leonard in 1904. He established a Wimbledon office in Alexandra Road which, in 1926 moved to 57 St George’s Road. By the time of the Second World War, the partnership consisted of Frederick, his son ‘Boy’ and his son-in-law Cecil Burr, the father of Jeffery Burr who joined the firm in 1943 becoming senior partner in 1968.

Edmund Middlehurst trained under Jeffery Burr and became Managing Partner when the firm moved to its current address.

Partner, Michael Creamore started at the firm as a trainee and heads the Employment Law team. Partners, Alexandra Adam and Mike Jones, joined in 2001 and 2000 respectively, further enhancing and developing the Gregsons’ expertise in the areas of dispute resolution and commercial property. Samir Hussain heads the Private Client department having been made a Partner in 2013.  David McGrady who is now a consultant was the President of the Institute of Legal Executives from 2010- 2011.  He was instrumental in securing its Royal Charter in January 2012.

In 2013 the firm celebrated its 225 year anniversary.

In April 2017 Gregsons took over Paton Walsh Laundy Solicitors, and were joined by Grant Needham, Sophie Hutchinson and Richard Shinn,  enhancing our expertise in employment, property and private client.