Propertyball.co.uk

10
Burkes Parade
Beaconsfield
Buckinghamshire
HP9 1NN

Tel: 01494 677744
Lettings: 01494 671511




Hamptons had been established since 1869 when, in premises on Pall Mall East shared with the National Gallery, the estate agency arm of Hamptons was launched with eight staff under the direction of George and W. Powell Hampton. A bomb later destroyed the premises during the Blitz in 1940 and the site is now the Sainsbury Wing of the Gallery.

The firm’s history really began some 39 years earlier when their father, William Hampton, opened a shop in Cranbourn Street just off Leicester Square for the sale of furniture. In 1890 a fire broke out which almost entirely destroyed the estate office’s records. A new estate office had to be provided and the staff was transferred to offices at 1 Cockspur Street. A limited company was formed with George Hampton as Chairman and Managing Director and in 1900, a satellite office was opened on Wimbledon Common.

In 1920, Hampton & Sons, Estate Agents & Auctioneers, moved to 20 St James’s Square, London W.1. Hamptons handled a number of notable auctions, including that of the Michelham Collection in 1926, when the record auction price of 74,000 guineas was achieved for Sir T. Lawrence’s painting ‘Pinkie’. The sale of a number of world famous liners and their contents was conducted by Hamptons, including that of the Mauritania, some of whose fine panelling still adorns the walls of Hamptons St James’s and Wimbledon offices. The sale of the Cameroons, a group of islands off West Africa was successfully achieved shortly after the First World War.

In 1936 the Estate Office moved to the former French Embassy building on Arlington Street, St James’s and 21 years later the Estate Agency was separated from the parent company when a partnership was formed by the founder’s grandson.

The early 1980’s saw an expansion of the business under the ownership of British and Commonwealth when a number of local businesses in the South of England were brought under the Hamptons brand name. Included amongst these were Christopher Rowland, Giddy & Giddy, Messenger May Baverstock and Pocock & Lear. In 1991 Hamptons was bought by Bristol & West Building Society.