Exploring the history of the company is a never-ending task, thankfully as it sometimes makes a very enjoyable distraction, I frequently find cause to add to and update our history page.
Beginnings:
When enterprising auctioneer, John Prickett, born 1733, settled in the tiny hamlet of Highgate he could not have known he would be the founder of a thriving family business which would be alive many generations after his death. John married Ann from Hornsey who ran her family carpentry business Together they had three sons and, by 1767, they had established an auctioneering business in Highgate Village. That’s the big date for us – the 250th anniversary we recently celebrated.
Kenwood House figures large at the start of our story. Records show that Ann supplied carpentry work and one of the Prickett sons, John (the younger), drew up a map of the house and grounds for the first Earl of Mansfield, which still exists but is kept in Scone Palace. Kenwood would have been a prestigious project to be involved in as Mansfield was a well-known man of status and power, Lord Chief Justice.
Second Generation:
Young John, mentioned above, married another Ann, in St Mary’s, Hornsey, and they went on to have at least nine children. He clearly inherited some of the entrepreneurial spirit of his parents and worked hard surveying and auctioning off several huge tracts of land in the fields and estates outside London, including in Hendon and Wood Green. We still have the 1806 particulars in our offices, along with other items collected over the centuries. His work often took him further afield too and the London Metropolitan Archives hold maps and plans, drawn or re-delineated by John Prickett and auctions from counties as far afield as Chester, Lincolnshire, Kent and Devon.
John’s nephew was Charles Richard Prickett, who lived in Aldersgate, who was a cabinet maker and upholsterer. He succeeded his father, also called Charles Richard b.1740, who we know took on an apprentice named William Clark in 1766, Thursday 12th of June to be precise. All the male Pricketts of this particular lineage died young, and while I can find no record of the cause they did all occur during the Napoleonic wars. It is known that in 1803 a company of Volunteers was created, called the Loyal Highgate Volunteers, a kind of Dad’s Army of it’s day, in which John Prickett served as a lieutenant. While he would have been too old to serve abroad his nephews were not.
Third Generation:
John Prickett’s son, George, followed him into the business becoming a surveyor and auctioneer. He married Sarah Dayton in 1817 and by the 1820s the business was now called Messrs. Prickett & Sons, as another son, Herbert, was involved. There were problems with the partnership and in 1832 Herbert left owing his father money. Consequently he was cut out of his father’s will, which must have been upsetting as John died in 1833 leaving a substantial portfolio of shares and property, which was still being disputed over twenty years later.
In 1841, George Prickett was living near St. Pancras station from where he could easily commute between his two offices; one in Highgate and the other in Chancery Lane. His lasting legacy from this time is the wonderfully rich map he produced of Highgate for inclusion in a book written by his brother Frederick in 1842. ‘History and Antiquities of Highgate’ is still a good read and a wonderful contemporary source for anyone interested in the subject. (It can be downloaded for free from archive.org). George died in 1856 and two of his sons, George and Walter took over the business. In their time they saw a huge growth of the Highgate area, as with the arrival of the Great North Railway in 1867 the conurbation of London expanded rapidly outwards.
Arrival of the Ellises:
At some time in the 1820s or 1830s Charles Ellis moved to London from Shropshire with his brother Thomas. We know that Charles married Ann Hain in 1839 in Chiswick, while working as a conveyancer, and they had three sons: James; Charles; and Henry. In the 1851 Census Henry Ellis is listed as an auctioneers Clerk, so it’s possible that he was then working with and learning from one of the Prickett family. In the 1870s this young Henry was working as a land surveyor in Chancery Lane and worked in the office adjacent to Walter Prickett. The two men must have become close friends and, later, business partners with Henry the executor of Walter’s will when he died in 1884.
Henry Ellis married in 1872 and moved into 21 West Hill, Hermitage Villas, in Highgate. He built a new office in the 1880s strategically placed at the exit of Highgate Station, near the Woodman pub. This office still functions in the estate agent capacity as the offices of Barbara Gibson. He also took over the Prickett offices in Highgate High Street as the new generation of Pricketts were not interested in being involved. Meanwhile, in the 1880s another partnership was formed with Frederick Venables and the name Prickett & Venables, later changed to Prickett, Venables & Co was used up until around 1900. However, the name we are familiar with today, Prickett & Ellis, was the one Henry (now a sole trader) chose to continue trading under some time around 1885-1889. The Venables partnership was officially dissolved in 1889 by mutual consent, but both parties continued operating. On his death in 1899 his two sons took over; William Henry Ellis ran the Chancery Lane office and Alfred kept the two Highgate offices running.
In 1901 the firm commissioned a poster advertisement from the noted artist Dudley Hardy who featured Kenwood to sell the delights of living on London’s Northern Heights. We are all still very fond of his striking image. By 1925 the firm was thriving, and continued to do so until WWII, with its three offices and furniture shop on Hampstead Lane.
World War II:
During the war the Chancery lane offices were destroyed in the Blitz and William Henry Ellis died shortly after – his family believed of a broken heart, though the death certificate lists pneumonia. At the end of the war the Atlee government introduced measures to nationalise most industries, and even talked of including the real estate business. The idea of caps on prices and rents was considered but dropped. William Henry’s only son John had moved away to Trowbridge, Shropshire and became a vet before the war.
Post War:
Alfred’s son William became a partner in 1953. In the 1960s he took the bold step of opening a new office at 185 Priory Road, Hornsey. He was joined in the 1970s by his sons Anthony and Nigel, the fourth generation of Ellises and the eighth in the business. In 1978 the Hornsey office moved to 205 Park Road, where it is today, and was run by Nigel. Anthony (Tony) and his father William (also known as Tony) worked out of the office at 27 Highgate High Street.
The 1980s:
William (Tony) Ellis retired in 1985 just three years before the financial crash of 1988. The collapse led to the disappearance of many established estate agent names but Prickett & Ellis was one of the few surviving old independent names. In the following years the business expanded to better serve their client base:
114 Alexandra Park Road, Alexandra Park: This office was acquired in 1989 from Hillyers, a well-established firm of surveyors who occupied a 1930s bank building. Christopher Stone, a local estate agent and surveyor joined the team and re-established a surveying side to the business.
134 Crouch Hill, Crouch End: was acquired from Warmans Surveyors in 1996 on the retirement of Alan Champion.
82 High Road, East Finchley: In the year 2000 Peter Byrne of Bernard Tomkins & Co enabled Prickett & Ellis Residential to move into central East Finchley at no 36 High Road. When no 82 became available it was an obvious next move.
27 Highgate High Street, Highgate: It was also in 2000 that Christopher Underhill joined to run the Highgate office, incorporating another well-known local property name.
31 Fortis Green Road, Muswell Hill: More recently, in 2016 we took over Muswell Hill’s longest serving Estate Office, the original Collins premises. We are delighted to have a presence here, giving our clients even greater choice.
As the nature of estate agency has changed and footfall into offices has decreased, while more people search online, we closed the peripheral offices in Alexandra Park Road and Crouch Hill and consolidated our team into more central offices, having established ourselves in Central Muswell Hill with the Fortis Green Road office, which was originally an office of William Collins, who built much of what we see today as Muswell Hill, so it could be said to be the oldest office in Muswell Hill.
The Youngest Generation:
Nigel Ellis has three energetic sons, two of which work alongside him in the business. Nicholas joined in 2003 and Philip in 2006: thus becoming the fifth generation of Ellises and the ninth generation of family who have worked for the company since the eighteenth century. Nicholas works in the Sales side and Philip works in the Surveying and Valuation department. They have been involved in all aspects of the business from day one and, fittingly for the 250th milestone, they have overseen, with patience and expertise, a period of rapid advancement in technology in all aspects of the business. We are not just the oldest but among the most modern of estate agents as well.
Securing the family business into the future Philip is now the proud father of two children, Emily and Alfred, named for his great grandfather Alfred who lived and worked in Highgate as a surveyor. It is hoped by Philip that both Emily and ‘Alfie’ will continue the family business and be the 6th generation of Ellises, and the 10th generation since John Prickett in the 18th century.
Sadly Nigel, who had done so much to build the company up from his one office to six offices at its apogee, passed away in February 2025. His funeral was attended by so many people it was a testament to how being an honest gentleman can still garner you a rich successful life, surrounded by love and respect, even as an estate agent.