Look for a sleek sign with elegant black lettering spelling out “GINN & CO SOLICITORS” with a flourish-just ahead on Sidney House, you’ll spot it right at street level.
Now that you’re here, let’s unlock the tale of Ginn & Co Solicitors-one of Cambridge’s longest-running law firms, spanning nearly a century and a half. Imagine the bright chatter of clients opening the door, the shuffle of legal papers, and the low, steady hum of serious business in the air. It all started back in 1873, when Samuel Reuben Ginn, a sharp-minded solicitor from a family of lawyers, decided to set up shop right here in the heart of Cambridge. He must’ve liked the city’s energy, because he soon became not just a lawyer, but a big cheese in local politics-serving as Mayor of Cambridge, Deputy Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, and even Justice of the Peace.
But Ginn wasn’t just about fancy titles. During the First World War, when times were tough, he managed the Prince of Wales’ National Relief Fund, lending a hand to families in need. As if that wasn’t enough, he also looked after several manors and could probably juggle law books and mayoral sashes at the same time-though I wouldn’t recommend trying that at home!
By the late 1870s, Samuel moved his practice to St Andrew’s Street. If you listen closely, you might almost hear the ring of trams from the Cambridge Street Tramways Company, one of his clients. He actually managed to persuade Parliament to extend the tramway lines, which was a pretty big deal for the city’s growth.
A young solicitor named George Alfred Matthew joined Ginn in 1882, and together, the firm became Ginn & Matthews-a legal dream team. George was a fellow of St John’s College and took turns as President of the Cambridgeshire Law Society. Through them, the firm attracted some delicious business-literally! Clients included Chivers & Sons, the famous jam makers, and Hudson’s Breweries, keeping local pubs well supplied and even securing a whopping £75,000 debenture loan for Hudson’s. (That’s enough to keep an army of barristers happy in ale.)
In 1903, a talented lawyer named Geoffrey Garland Goodman joined the crew, guiding the practice through two world wars. Talk about keeping calm and carrying on! When George Matthew died suddenly in 1905, the firm became simply Ginn & Co. Samuel’s own son, Dennis Barton Ginn-fresh from the hallowed halls of Trinity Hall, Cambridge-became his partner. And what a family legacy! Dennis not only handled legal work, but during World War I, he served in some of the harshest campaigns, including Gallipoli and Palestine. Imagine writing up contracts in the trenches-now that’s multitasking!
Dennis’s second son, Benjamin, would go on to use his engineering skills to mastermind escape attempts from German prisoner-of-war camps in WWII. If only escaping paperwork at a law firm was that dramatic!
Meanwhile, across the street, another former partner, John Edward Few, set up a rival practice, which would later merge into another Cambridge institution. There’s a friendly kind of rivalry in law, complete with old halls and secret handshakes-okay, maybe not the handshake.
Samuel Ginn, the founder, lived to the grand age of 82, leaving a fortune that, today, would be worth over five million pounds and a generous gift to his loyal staff. Dennis Ginn took over, but the family’s direct connection ended in tragic wartime fashion-his eldest son Samuel Marsland Ginn, having just joined the firm, was killed in action in the Netherlands during WWII.
After the war, under the guidance of Eric John Gipson Wright and Geoffrey Goodman, the firm continued to thrive and moved into a fine, neo-Georgian building just here on Sussex Street. In the 1970s, the firm even hit the Guinness Book of Records for the longest commercial arbitration-239 days! Imagine the amount of coffee and biscuits that must have required.
More recently, Ginn & Co tackled everything from employment disputes to inheritance mysteries-sorting out family affairs, property deals, and even cases that made it all the way to the Supreme Court. In 2012, they earned the Law Society’s quality mark for legal excellence-proudly displaying their Lexcel badge.
But the times changed, and in October of 2013, after 140 years of sorting out Cambridge's legal knots, the firm closed its doors. Today, its legacy still lingers on Sussex Street-proof that, sometimes, the most unassuming buildings have the richest stories to tell. Now, that’s a case closed!
