The origin of the Holsworthy office, in Devon, is shrouded in the mists of antiquity and goes back to the time "whence the memory of man runneth not to the contrary"
Papers taken from the firm's archive in the Second World War (and pulped in support of the war effort) showed that the firm had at one time been active on behalf of clients who had lost money in the South Sea Bubble of 1720, and that two centuries ago many of the letters from the firm to its London agents were applications on behalf of clients for £1 tickets in the State Lottery.