Our History
1880s
9th April 1888
Firm established in Broken Hill by John R Edwards.
5th November 1888
First Fire – This fire destroyed the first office of the firm.
12th December 1888
John R. Edwards was appointed solicitor to the Municipality of Broken Hill. Apart from being solicitor to the Council, he acted for and represented all the major mining companies in Broken Hill, including BHP. We still act for the Broken Hill City Council today.
1910s
November 1910
Abdy Fellowes Edwards, J.R. Edwards’ son, was admitted to practice as a solicitor and joined his fathers firm.
1930s
July 1933
Mitchell Austen Brown and Thomas John Brown signed an agreement to purchase the firm John R. Edwards and Son, and the firm became known as John R. Edwards, Son and Brown.
1950s
1950
Tom Brown Jnr joined the firm.
28th April 1954
The second fire, which almost completely destroyed the premises of the office at 281 Argent Street. This fire did untold damage. At this time we had one of the biggest Legal Libraries outside the Sydney area. It was completely destroyed.
1960s
1964
Garth Michael Thompson arrived to complete his articles with Austen Brown. He was admitted to practice as a solicitor on the 12th February 1965. Two years later he became a partner in the firm John R. Edwards, Brown and Brown.
1970s
1970
John Albert Swift joined the firm which changed its name to John R. Edwards Brown and Thompson. In 1973 John Swift became a partner. The firm then changed its name again to Austen Brown Thompson and Swift.
1980s
1980
Danny O’Brien joined the firm.
1982
The firm’s name changed again, this time to Austen Brown, Thompson.
November 1983
Saw the arrival of Andrew Boog, a graduate from the Australian National University in Canberra. He and his wife Joanne, came from Sydney where Andrew had worked with the Australian Tax Office.
July 1985
Garth Thompson sold his share of the business to Danny O’Brien and Andrew Boog.
26 October 1987
Austen Brown Thompson began conducting business in the new offices of 178 Argent Street.
9 April 1988
We celebrated our centenary in business. 1st book “100 years in Law” released.
1990s
August 1995
Austen Brown Thompson opened its office in Dubbo.
2000s
July 2001
Andrew became the firm’s sole owner and the firm became known as Austen Brown Boog.
November 2006
Moved into our new premises at 21 Church Street Dubbo.
April 2008
Celebrated 120 years and released the 2nd book “Lawyers in the Outback.
2010s
November 2010
The Broken Hill office closed.
2020s
October 2021
The firm merged with Silkman Hockey Lawyers, formerly Kevin Hockey & Associates which was established in 2005 by Kevin Hockey. Jai Silkman took over from Kevin in October 2019.