The firm of Hallett & Co was started not under that name, by Robert Furley, the son of a prominent family of lawyers and bankers in Canterbury. A later portrait of him shows a typical Victorian gentleman, rather portly, with white mutton-chop whiskers, pince-nez glasses and a stern expression. Robert decided to set up shop further afield in Ashford.
He opened a legal office in New Rents in 1830, and for the first year 'commuted' from Canterbury to conduct his business. He then bought a house for himself in North Street, which had been owned by George Elwick Jemmett, a local solicitor who died at a relatively young age. Robert was also able to take over Mr Jemmett's position as Clerk to the Justices. This lucky break gave him the influence he needed in the town, and his business thrived. He seems to have been energetic and determined man. After his death it was said that he put his heart and soul into everything he did, and everything he did prospered as a result. He was appointed 'among many other things over the years' Clerk to the Board of commissioners. The Commissioners ran Ashford, but rather lackadaisically, so in 1863 Robert managed to get them disbanded and replaced by the more efficient Local Board, and was Clerk to that instead!
He seems to have been a strong character, with a finger in every pie. He campaigned to have the Cattle Market moved from the Lower High Street to the site by the railway, lessening the inconvenience to the townsfolk. He also succeeded in solving a long-standing dispute over public urinals, which at the time stood opposite Lloyds Bank in the High Street. These had fallen into 'an objectionable state' but the wrangling over the alternative premises had dragged on for years. Eventually he forced a solution by repossessing the property and having locks put on the doors.
He became a Magistrate, known for his willingness to give deserving paupers a second chance, and his contrasting advice more 'idle, frivolous and thriftless young gentlemen' to join the army or the navy. He campaigned against the closure of the 'casual ward' for tramps in Tufton Street, and took an interest in the Industrial School at Kingsnorth, an early kind of approved school, where boys were sent for training. An honour guard of boys from the Industrial School was to line the cemetery at his burial.
Business was thriving and Robert took on Partners to assist him. Frederick Hughes Hallett, the first in fact the only Hallett, appears on the Partners list in 1855 and disappears again 1907. Since then there have been many Partners- sometimes as many as ten. In 1935, however, they were temporarily down to two, and in 1939 a single Partner, John William Kennard, ran the office alone, employing temporary help, having been left 'holding the baby' when the others enlisted. He also found time to join the Home Guard.