Crane & Staples celebrate our 80th anniversary!
In 1938 Dennis Crane started practising as a solicitor in Welwyn Village. In WW2 he is believed to have served in the local Home Guard. After the war he joined forces with Colin Staples practising from premises in Welwyn Village. The firm continued to practice from there until the 1990’s.
As a brief history, we know that Dennis Crane died in 1958 and that Colin Staples continued the business until 1961 when he left the firm to work at Scotland Yard.
Longstanding clients of the firm will remember previous partners, Donald Ensum, David Martin, Andrew Firth and John Scrivens.
Gregory Ainscough joined the firm in 1982 and Ian Smith in 1986. They became partners and only retired within recent years. Also in 1982 Crane & Staples merged with Wynters Davis & Lee in Hertford, and Steven Harding joined the partnership until he retired in 2008.
1992 was a big year for the firm when Donald Ensum retired but also Michele Rowe joined as a solicitor, becoming the first female partner in 2000.
In 2001 the firm merged with Montgomery Short and Sharon Montgomery joined the Crane & Staples partnership.
Since then, David Bird, Eileen Ismay, Danielle Peters, Bonnie Twiggs, Chris Brewis and Mike Scutt have all joined the partnership. Michele Rowe and Eileen Ismay have subsequently retired, although Eileen, together with Greg Ainscough, remains as a consultant,
Crane & Staples was based for many years at Roseanne House in Welwyn Garden City but has been at its current premises at Longcroft Lane for 30 years.
We continue to provide the local communities in Welwyn and Hatfield with personal, professional and specialist legal advice. We also have clients from across Hertfordshire and beyond.
We are proud of our history and of taking a proactive role in both our business and local community.