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History

(With our grateful thanks to The St Ives Archive Centre)
Mr. James Lanham formed the business in 1869, trading under his own name as a
General Merchants Store. He was born in London in 1849, and later lived in St
Ives. He was well travelled, visiting all the major art galleries in Europe and
became an important part of the artists community in St Ives, having regular tea
afternoons with the leading artists at his home on Saturday afternoons. He lived
at The Retreat, a Georgian house which stood where the Guildhall now stands in
Street-an-Pol, directly behind our office. He died in 1931 at the age of 82.
The business became a Limited Company in 1907, under the name James Lanham
Ltd. In 1912, for reasons of age and health James Lanham retired and sold the business to Mr
Benjamin Bramham. A few years later in 1919 the business was purchased by our
great grandfather Martin
Cock, and has been in the same family ever since. Over the years it has been run
by Martin's sons Gerald and Martin (our Grandfather, known as Mr Jim); and later by Gerald's son
John Cock and Mr Jim's daughter Wendy (our Mother, now Wendy Hall), and now us, Derek and Barry Hall with our wives Margaret and Sarah. As you can
see it has always been very much a family run business.
The business has had many parts to it over the
years. The Articles of Association from 1907 record the business then as: a wine
and spirit merchant, house and estate agent, dealer in artist materials, general
and fancy furnisher and salesman for the business 'now carried out by the said
James Lanham'. The business has evolved considerably since then to adapt with
the changing times, and now known as Lanhams comprises an agency for Halifax
PLC, a Property Management service and St Ives Holidays.
St Ives Holidays has grown from only a handful of properties some
30-40 years ago, to handling over 230
properties this year, being the largest self catering holiday agency in St Ives.
Derek, Barry, Margaret and Sarah Hall
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