Our History

Today Carter Jonas is looking to the future following its merger with the firm of Dreweatt Neate. But history is important to us: our collective reputation has been forged across three centuries and, combined with today’s dynamic profile, makes Carter Jonas the market leader it is now.

Our roots go back to 1759, when Thomas Davis established himself as a valuer and auctioneer in Newbury. Following several mergers, during which it became Dreweatts, the firm joined with Neates (founded in Hungerford in 1876) in 1987 to form Dreweatt Neate. Most recently, in 2007, Dreweatt Neate merged with Sutton Griffin Architects, based at Welford, near Newbury.

Carter Jonas was founded in 1855, when John Carter Jonas set himself up as an auctioneer in Cambridge. The firm’s estate-management business started when the future Marquess of Lincolnshire appointed John Carter Jonas to run his family estates in Buckinghamshire, and Carter Jonas’s extensive association with Oxbridge colleges was expanded when the firm took over Castle, Field & Castle in Oxford in 1924.

The firm strengthened its estate-management business during the war years, when it managed many estates whose staff were serving in the armed forces. Carter Jonas remained a family firm until 1965, when the Partnership was enlarged to include senior members of staff; by 2009 there were 20 offices, notably strengthened by the acquisition of three Egertons offices in London in 2002.

This background gives us a distinguished base on which to build for the future. The merger of Carter Jonas and Dreweatt Neate has created a national network of 31 offices and opens an exciting new chapter in the histories of the two firms.