Photograph by Freebird Photography Holsworthy
Our Holsworthy office which goes back nearly three hundred years, has recently had cause for a triple celebration.
First, local girl Claire Woolsey has completed her training and qualified as a solicitor. Secondly, senior conveyancer Denzil Blackman has completed forty years with the firm, and thirdly former senior partner James Rowland has completed no less than fifty years, as did both his father and grandfather.
Claire Woolsey (nee Prout) is a member of the Ford family, one of the oldest in Holsworthy. She obtained a law degree in Bristol and joined the firm in 2002. She first qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives and then, with support and encouragement from family and colleagues, and a great deal of hard work, went on to achieve her ultimate goal of becoming a solicitor. Claire now specialises in wills, trusts and probate in the firm’s private client department.
Denzil Blackman joined the firm as a school leaver and has completed forty years in the property department. He has been the firm’s senior conveyancer for many years, and his experience and knowledge are highly regarded within the wider profession as well as by clients and other professionals. He is also well known and valued for his work in the local community.
James Rowland’s grandfather joined the firm in 1875 as office boy at the age of nine, and his father joined in 1908 at the age of thirteen. James himself joined the firm fifty years ago as an articled clerk at a salary of £4 per week. His son Toby continues the tradition, as a partner in the firm’s Bude office. James, who is a past president of the Devon & Exeter Law Society was formerly the senior partner at the firm, which he now serves as a consultant.
