| Administrative History | The firm of Birch Cullimore, solicitors, began in c1779 as the partnership of Derbyshire and Massey, attorneys at law, based at Parsons Lane in Chester. The firm has undergone a number of partnership changes since this date (see list of partners below) but has practised under the current name since 1913. In 1786 the firm moved from Parsons Lane to The Bars, Chester, and again in October 1792 to the offices at the Friars, White Friars, Chester, which they still occupy today.
The firm had many well-known local families as clients, including Cotton of Combermere, Delamere (Cholmondeley) of Vale Royal, Massey of Chester and Stockport, Vyner of Bidston, Newby (Yorks) and Gautby (Lincolnshire) and Tomkinson of Willington Hall (see client records listing). Attorneys in the 18th century drafted and executed wills, arranged mortgages and loans, advised on investments, and acted as stewards, estate managers, and rent collectors. The firm was listed in trade directories both as attorneys and as solicitors. This is because by the 17th century solicitors occupied a standing equal to that of attorneys, whereas prior to this in the 15th century, when the term first appeared, solicitors acted more as business agents than lawyers. In 1873 the term 'attorney' was abolished in favour of 'solicitor' in England.
The collection includes records of the firm itself and also records of its clients. The firm's records within the collection are mainly administrative and financial records such as letter books, bill books and cash books. Included in the firm's records are those of an attorney R Leeke of Middlewich, whose affairs the firm, then practising as Massey & Richards, dealt with after his death in c.1791. Also included are some records of another attorney named John Cross, however it is not clear what his relationship was to Birch Cullimore. The firm's client records consist of deeds, sales particulars, accounts and estate records.
The firm of Birch Cullimore is still practising in Chester and currently has 8 partners. It specialises in estate and agricultural law, ecclesiastical law, family law, personal tax, trusts, and probate law.
Birch Cullimore list of partners:
1779 Derbyshire & Massey
1786 Massey & Richards (partnership dissolved 30 June 1794)
1794 W Massey
1796 Massey & Humbertson
1801 Philip Humbertson
1840 Philip Humbertson & Son
1846 Humbertson & Bailey
1848 Philip Stapleton Humberston
1850 Humberston & Helps
1854 Humberston, Helps & Parker
1860 Helps & Parker
1867 Helps, Parker & Birch
1872 Helps, Birch & Co
1874 Helps, Birch, Cullimore & Douglas
1876 Birch, Cullimore & Douglas
1913 Birch, Cullimore & Co
Secondary references:
Oxford Dictionary of Local and Family History, ed. D Hey, Oxford 1997.
Penguin Dictionary of British History, ed. J Gardner, London 2000. |