Stone King Solicitors has a continuous working history in the City of Bath for more than 239 years. In 1785 Robert Clarke had set up in business as an Attorney at Law, in the Cross Baths. In 1832 the first member of the King family joined the Partnership. It was also in 1832 that the business moved into offices at 13 Queen Square, not long beforehand the home of Jane Austen.
For most of its first two centuries the firm’s story was of four families; the Clarkes, the Kings, the Stones and the Wardles, linked in an unbroken line of partnership and the partners rarely numbered more than 4.
The firm’s bicentenary in 1985 gave it a fresh start and successful mergers with 3 Bath-based firms, Meade King, Macfarlane Guy and W. T. Chesterman & Sons took place in the decade but a sea-change was brought about by the establishment of a London office in 1990 to expand the firm’s work amongst charities. At the beginning of the 21st century charity teams from Simmons & Simmons and Stephenson Harwood joined the firm in London followed in 2006 by the niche charity team from Nabarro Nathanson.
The continuing growth of the firm made it necessary to take additional premises in Bath and to relocate in London. In February 2007, Stone King opened an office in Cambridge, particularly to pursue charity & education work in East Anglia. The firm opened further offices in Leeds in May 2016 and in Birmingham in June 2018, making it a national firm. In Bath, the firm’s ongoing growth led to the decision to move out of its Queen Square base and relocate all of Stone King’s Bath-based teams under one roof in November 2021. In August 2023, the firm opened the Manchester office in the heart of the city’s business district, and focuses on the firm’s specialist sectors of business & social enterprise, charity, education, faith and private client. The Manchester office both complements and provides a significant boost to the growth of Stone King’s northern offering.
In December 2019 the firm's Private Client team joined forces with another well-known Bath firm, Mowbray Woodwards. The new combined practice builds on the success of Mowbray's last 70 years, and forms one of the largest and most experienced Private Client teams in the South West.