Our History. Your Future.
Barr Ellison traces one half of our roots back to John Ellison who in 1874 set up a law partnership Ellison & Burrows with Robert Burrows. The partnership morphed into Ellison & Co by 1897 and was led by members of the Ellison family for 3 generations, until its merger with Barr & Co to become Barr Ellison in 1968.
We trace our other root back to Laurence Barr who was admitted in 1922. Laurence became a partner in White, Todd & Barr in 1929. The partnership became Barr & Co in 1941 and Laurence’s daughter Freda Elizabeth Hadley (Betty) Barr was the senior partner at the time of the 1968 merger. Betty was the first female president of the Cambridge & District Law Society and had qualified as a barrister before converting and joining her father’s firm. When she was just 20, while a law student, Betty was enlisted to serve at the famous code-breaking Bletchley Park.
At the time of the merger, Barr & Co’s offices were in Guildhall Chambers, and Ellison & Co were at 5 Petty Cury – a short walk from each other. In 1972, they combined resources by moving to our current offices at 39 Parkside overlooking Parker’s Piece.
You are welcome to visit our offices in central Cambridge overlooking Parker’s Piece. We are privileged to provide some of our legal services from a stunning, historic building on the outside; an elegant, modern and light environment on the inside.
Client Care
Barr Ellison prides itself on providing the best possible service to our clients. Our lawyers and staff put client care at the forefront of everything we do, aiming to offer a consistently high standard of client care. We hope that you will be pleased with the work we do for you. However, if at any point you have a concern about our service, then please get in touch without delay so that we can quickly work to resolve the issue.
In the first instance, please get in touch with the person who is working on your matter to discuss your concern and we will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage.
If you require further information or have queries or concerns, please use the button links for detail on the avenues open to you.