Hopkins Solicitors - A Brief History
Hopkins Solicitors was founded in 1913 by Elijah Samuel Buxton Hopkins, known to his family and friends as Sam. The Hopkins family originally came from Eastwood, where Sam grew up in his mothers pub 'The Rising Sun Public House', based in the centre of Eastwood. A relation of Sam Hopkins was a Mr Willy Hopkins, a local Poet and good friend of Nottingham's own D H Lawrence, with Willy being mentioned in many of D H Lawrence's biographies. Sam became articulated at Hunt Dickens, a firm in Nottingham, before moving to London to be an Assistant Solicitor at Bailey, Shaw & Gillott.
He placed his own plate up for the first time on the Westminster Bank buildings in Sutton-in-Ashfield in the year of 1913. In the 1920s, with his eldest son Raymond and Mr Robert Bosworth (who happened to be the son of the Bank Manager at Westminster Bank). Sam Hopkins opened his first branch in Mansfield, a small office on Leeming Street.
Apart from being a local born Solicitor, Sam Hopkins was also a founding member of Mansfield Rotary Club and also started working for the Mining Union in 1926.
Waverley House
Hopkins closed its Sutton and Leeming Street offices and moved to the larger Waverley House on Westgate in about 1928 - where we still reside today. Waverley is now one of Mansfield's listed building thanks to its historic stonework, which is said to be the same as Mansfield's Moot Hall - commissioned by the then Lady of the Manor. Here, along with his eldest son Ray, Sam was joined by his younger son Brian. They worked together for 20 years before the death of Elijah Sam in 1951. Ray and Brian continued as Partners and were joined by Dennis Tate in 1959.
Hopkins Solicitors, thanks to its historical connections with Mansfield's mining communities, gradually expanded as the mines grew in size and number. In 1982, to cater for our continued growth, Hopkins opened a large office at Eden Court in Mansfield (our current Head Office). Hopkins growth was built on good service rather than costs, with word of mouth proving a better tool than any advertising could provide.
In 1995, the Partners (with current Managing Partner John Bates) made the bold step of opening an office in the city centre of Nottingham, which is still open today. Thanks to the success of this office Hopkins expanded further into Nottingham by opening our Mapperley office in 2004, which is run by Partner Roger Pratt.
With the mining community in Nottinghamshire now reduced to just a few small pits Hopkins have adapted well. We have specialist Solicitors in all areas of the law (except criminal) and remain Mansfield's largest Solicitors, as well as being an emergent firm in the city of Nottingham.
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