The roots of the firm were founded in 1880 in Rous Road, Newmarket by Thomas Partridge Bendall, a West Countryman. Joined by his sons Archie and Reggie in about 1900, the family firm expanded to Mildenhall, (where Archie decided to settle) and Soham, (where both Thomas and Reggie lived).

From Soham it was but a short hop to Ely and representation in the City has been continuous since the early 1900’s. Thomas Partridge Bendall died in 1918 and unfortunately, his sons did not survive much longer.  Reggie, who had a son Reginald, died in 1934 followed by Archie, who had no children, in 1937. Reginald’s son did not play any part in the practice but went on to become an eminent Scientist. By this stage, the Ely office was a permanent fixture at 5 Lynn Road, Ely and the practice was passed into the hands of Henry Morgan and Edward Nicholls.

Morgan came from a well-known King’s Lynn family of lawyers and Nicholls had no known connections with the law and hailed from Northampton. The war loomed, with all problems of running a small multi office practice in such troubled times. The pressure was enormous and Edward joined the RAF, leaving Henry to manage on his own. As the war came to a conclusion, Edward was lost in a flying incident and presumed dead and Henry died shortly after the end of the war in a matter of months by his wife.

Geoff Roberts had carried out part of his legal training prior to the war. He enlisted in the RAF, met and married his wife and had started a family before he attended his final course and qualified as a solicitor in 1947. He joined the Sandy Bedfordshire Practice of ET Leeds Smith & Co and its senior partner Thomas Sills very soon after acquired the firm of Bendall & Sons and the two practices ran in tandem for some years.

Eventually in the mid 1960’s, Geoff went solo and in 1965, he was joined by his son, Jeremy, who qualified as a solicitor in 1967. The firm expanded but in 1983 the partnership was dissolved and Jeremy Roberts continued practice at Ely office as Bendall Roberts.

In 1996 Jeremy’s eldest daughter, Briony, joined the firm and has remained with the firm since her qualification as a solicitor in 1998.  Bendall Roberts was incorporated in 2011 and began to specialise in property transactions.

Upon Jeremy’s retirement in March 2015, the firm joined forces with the conveyancing arm of Hall, Ennion & Young, formerly of 8 High Street, Ely. The firm rebranded as HEY Bendalls and continues to operate from the premises of 53 Market Street, Ely which has been the home of the practice since the 1950’s.

In 2017 we were excited to launch a new office at 27/29 Bridge Street, Downham Market, PE38 9DW hiring local staff and serving the local community. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions we had to close the office in March 2020. Unfortunately due to the uncertainty of ongoing restrictions/rules and the timing of our Lease Break, the decision was made not to reopen this office again.  However, we still serve and assist our Downham Market clients at our Ely Office.