The firm of Hallett and Co was started by Robert Furley, the son of a prominent family of lawyers and bankers in 1830.
He opened a legal office in New Rents and bought a house for himself in North Street, which had been owned by George Elwick Jemmett, a local solicitor who died at a young age. Robert was able to take over Mr Jemmett's position as Clerk to the Justices, which was the lucky break he needed to give him influence in Ashford and because of this his business thrived.
After his death, it was said that he had put his heart and soul into everything he did, and everything he did prospered as a result. He campaigned to have the Cattle Market moved from the Lower High Street to the site by the railway, lessening the inconvenience to the townsfolk. He also became a magistrate and was known for his willingness to give deserving paupers a second chance. He also campaigned against the closure of the 'casual ward' for tramps in Tufton Street and took an interest in the Industrial School at Kingsnorth, an early kind of approved school where boys were sent for training.
Business was thriving and Robert took on Partners to assist him. Frederick Hughes Hallett, the first, and in fact the only Hallett, appears on the Partners list in 1855 and disappears again in 1907. Since then, there have been many Partners - sometimes as many as ten. In 1939 a single Partner, John William Kennard, ran the office alone after the other members of staff enlisted. He still had time to join the Home Guard.
One of the enlisted Partners returning after the war was Edward Lionel Reussner Rix, the father of current Partner Richard Rix. Between them they span the last 70 years from 1934 to the present day, with an overlap of six years when they were working at Halletts together.
Longevity is not confined to Partners: a surprisingly large number of our current members of staff have spent either their whole, or nearly all of their careers carrying on the legal tradition begun by Robert Furley, seven years before Queen Victoria ascended the throne.