It was 1836 when Richard Austin
(the first) established the business of Auctioneer,
Estate Agent and Valuer in the town of Bishops Waltham,
Hampshire, making this Company the longest established
local Estate Agent in the Southampton, Portsmouth and
Meon Valley areas.
1869 saw the opening of the Southampton office at 6
Portland Street. The Company is listed in the Southampton
directory, of this year, as “Austin Richard, Auctioneer”.
Business was extremely good at this time and, as a result,
the office moved locations in 1878 to St Michaels Street
in Southampton.
In 1903 Richard Austin II died and it was shortly after
this time that the business was transferred to Richard
Austin III, at which stage the Company had already started
negotiations with Mr Archibald Wyatt, who ran a successful
firm of Estate Agents in Fareham. On 28th February 1903
the companies merged to form Richard Austin & Wyatt,
Estate Agents, Valuers and Auctioneers. The Fareham
office operated from 79 High Street, as we do today.
Throughout this time the business continued to flourish
and was involved in property transactions across the
spectrum from houses in the suburbs and streets of the
surrounding areas of Southampton and Fareham to large
farms and country estates.
Today the Company operates throughout Southampton, Meon
Valley, Portsmouth and New Forest areas. In 1996, Salisbury
office was opened, making this the sixteenth office of
the Austin & Wyatt group and unlike many other companies,
we can draw upon a wealth of experience gained over the
last 160 years of operation.
|
