Solicitors and Barristers

Founder

Horatio Blacksyte

In the late days of September 1867, Horatio Blacksyte opened his small law practice in a garden apartment on Dorset Square. Though originally intended to a commission with the Royal Army, Horatio abdicated on military duties to pursue another path. Following interest in literature and mathematics, her read law at Christ Church College in Oxford. He was a star pupal, throwing himself into the rigors of academia and counted among his peers; future members of parliament and other positions of esteem within the growing imperial bureaucracy of Victorian England.

Without high positioned connections himself, Horatio lent on the tutelage of a maternal uncle, Gerald Meldrew – then a member on the council of the Bank of England - for guidance. Upon completing his studies in Oxford and under the advisement of Mr. Meldrew, Horatio moved to London and took up practices as a barrister under the prominent solicitor Victor Elmhurst. After three years under the mentorship of a skilled litigator, Horatio learned much about the practice of law. Yearning to make a mark on the profession for himself, Horatio invested his meager savings and what money he could borrow to rent the garden and first floor rooms of a Georgian terrace house in Dorset Square. Unbeknownst to Horatio, his firm, an unintended family tradition, would go on to own that terraced house and do more than just tender legal counsel.

Education

CHRIST CHURCH COLLEGE, OXFORD
Law, 1864

Affiliations

•Council to the Governor of India
•Member of Traveller’s Club, London

Gentleman Rogue

Peter Blacksyte

Peter Blacksyte was by all accounts a rogue in the legacy of the Blacksyte family. From the very beginning he went against the grain of his father, Ian Lancaster Blacksyte and brother, Edwin Blacksyte. It was his very interdiction toward the family trajectory that has kept the firm alive to this day.

At the close of the first world war, the Blacksyte’s were headed away from practicing law and exploring more capitalistic endeavors. Sharing a close relationship with his grandfather, Horatio, until his death in 1917; Peter had full intention in continuing in the family legacy. And in his first act of sedition with family tradition was attending Cambridge over Oxford. Completing his terms in 1929, he returned to London to begin practice with his Father and Brother only to find that they were intent on pursuing more lucrative business ventures then maintaining the practice. Peter took over the firm from his father completely in 1931 at the height of the depression. Peter would grow to become an outsider from his family as his brother Edwin grew a successful multinational corporation, earning him prominence in English High Society and a knighthood. A great solace in the distancing of his family was his wife Ann, who departed the world suddenly in 1941 during the Blitz bombings of London.  

Peter Blacksyte met his closest friend, August Eßlinger, on a chance encounter in a public house in Marlborough, England in 1930. Though broken by the loss of his wife to the Luftwaffe air raids, Peter thought of the German industrialist like a brother. The two would go on to work on many secret projects against the Nazi regime and later the East German Regime. Many of these exploits are still classified.

Education

TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
Law, 1930

Affiliations

• Special Operations Executive, 1941 - 45
• Secret Intelligence Service, 1945 - 61

Reluctant ASSOCIATE

John Blacksyte

John Blacksyte’s interaction with or knowledge of his family’s storied history was, in it onset, vague at best. The son of a professional soldier on the go, John spent much of his early youth traveling to different outposts of a shrinking, post-empire, Britain. Born during his father’s brief posting to Manchester, the family quickly moved on after John’s second birthday. First to Cyprus, then briefly to an attache posting in Australia. Finally, for the small families longest stay of any posting, to Hong Kong until it’s hand over to China in 1997. The Blacksyte’s then returned to England until the break out of the Iraq War. In the early days of the conflict in the Middle East, John’s father, George Blacksyte, became an unfortunate casualty during a special operations mission inside Afghanistan.

Shortly after, John and his mother, Annaliese, moved to her sister’s home in Chicago. Upon graduating high school, John went on to attend college at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, at the encouragement of his aunt, Heidi, who attended the university herself.

Education

PEMBROKE COLLEGE, OXFORD
Bachelors of Law, 2010

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
B.A., English, Unfinished

Activities & Affiliations

• Classified by the CIA