Hatchards is the oldest bookshop in the United Kingdom, established by John Hatchard in 1797. The shop has been a landmark on Piccadilly since the Georgian era. During the late 1700s, London’s fashionable West End began to develop, and our founder (through luck and savviness) placed himself at the centre of that burgeoning hub. Mr Hatchard was initially apprenticed to a printer at the age of 14 (in 1782), but quickly left that appointment to work for a bookseller named Mr Ginger until 1789. He then went on to work at Thomas Payne’s Literary Coffee House for another 7 years before setting up his own shop at the age of 29. Hatchard’s first act as a bookseller-publisher (the two industries were still intertwined at this point in history) was to secure the shop’s financial foundation by publishing a very successful political pamphlet entitled Reform or Ruin!

This early commercial success attracted readers of the highest order from all different disciplines. Politicians, historians, theologians, and scientists formed the basis of Hatchard’s early customer base. William Wilberforce was a regular; Hatchard published much of his and his contemporaries’ anti-slavery tracts during the years that the Slavery Abolition Act was being prepared. Botanists were also keen on the shop — the Royal Horticultural Society was founded at Hatchards, and for decades Hatchards had successful stalls at the Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Shows.

Our relationship with royal readers began in this early period, as Queen Charlotte honoured Hatchards by becoming a loyal customer. Hatchards is proud to have sold books to the Crown for our entire history, and we still take great joy in delivering books to the Royal Family. Alongside serving these great figures of British life, the shop has always been a haven for authors, from Sir Walter Scott to Lord Byron, and even, potentially, Jane Austen. John Hatchard died at the age of 80 after a long and successful life, passing the business to his son Thomas.

In the Victorian Period, Hatchards remained an important feature of the literary scene. The shop continued to publish books up until the end of the 19th century. During this time, manager and author Arthur L. Humphreys founded the Books of Today, Books of Tomorrow periodical, where book catalogues, poems, and articles were issued straight from Hatchards.

Humphreys attracted a distinguished set of authors around him, most famously including Oscar Wilde, who was a frequenter of the shop.

After the turn of the century, Hatchards endeavoured to serve as a site of comfort and joy for readers among the anguish of the two World Wars. The COVID-19 pandemic remains the only time in the shop’s history that we closed to customers; still then, we posted books to all four corners of the globe.

As Hatchards neared its 200th birthday, the shop was reinvigorated under new management by Thomas Joy, another highly successful bookseller and author in his own right. Joy was at the centre of the bookselling trade during his time, previously working as the President of the Booksellers’ Association and writing several books on the industry before becoming the general manager at Hatchards at 60 years old. Perhaps the most significant innovation he introduced to the shop was the holding of an annual Authors of the Year Party. This gathering of belletrists is held every year in the early summer, and celebrates the best and brightest voices in publishing. In order to facilitate a relaxed, joyful evening, there is no prize awarded and minimal media present, so authors and booksellers can mingle and celebrate in the peaceful presence of books alone. Party attendees from the first year included John Le Carré, Edna O’Brien and Iris Murdoch, and for 60 years literary powerhouses have remained on the guest list.

Today, Hatchards continues to be the buzzing centre of London’s literary world, as it has done for over two centuries. The opening of two other branches in St Pancras station (opened 2014) and in Cheltenham (opened 2022) has extended the reach of our booksellers, who are renowned for their expert knowledge, friendly conversation, and devoted bookishness. They create a sanctuary for readers and writers alike. Within Hatchards’ walls the next big author can be spotted chatting with our fiction specialist, gathering inspiration for their next book just like the writers of the past. Whether you are looking for the latest bestseller, a rare out-of-print edition, a stack of crime noir, or something new to get your teeth into, our dedicated team will help you discover them.

Perhaps most proudly, our history is kept alive in The Hatchards Library books, as they evoke the bookselling-publishing business that Mr Hatchard began in 1797. His portrait still keeps watch over the ground floor, a noble reminder of the shop’s uniquely long and storied past.

For me, seeing my books connected with Hatchards is not simply about a bookshop listing. It is about historical placement.

Hatchards, founded in 1797 by John Hatchard, is the oldest bookshop in the United Kingdom and has stood on Piccadilly since the Georgian era. From its earliest days, Hatchards was not merely a shop selling books; it was part of the old bookselling-publishing world, where literature, politics, reform, history, theology, science, and royal readership all crossed paths. John Hatchard’s first major success was the publication of the political pamphlet Reform or Ruin!, showing that Hatchards began with books that were not passive objects, but active contributions to public thought. 

That matters to me because my own work follows a similar principle. My books are not written to sit quietly in the background. They are written to question, preserve, restore, and document forgotten or misunderstood histories.

Hatchards’ early readers included politicians, historians, theologians, scientists, abolitionists, horticulturalists, and royal figures. William Wilberforce was a regular, and Hatchards published anti-slavery tracts during the period leading toward the Slavery Abolition Act. Queen Charlotte became a loyal customer, beginning the shop’s long relationship with royal readers. 

That is why this matters for my work. My books also move through the worlds of royalty, inheritance, history, bloodlines, migration, forgotten families, and the way powerful stories are either preserved or erased.

In The Forgotten Royals of the USA, I trace how royal and noble lines did not simply vanish into the past. They moved. They crossed oceans. They became part of the American story through pioneer families, land, timber, tobacco, settlement, survival, and family memory. It is, in many ways, a family Bible in book form: a record of how a client’s line moved from royal and noble houses into the making of America.

Placed beside the history of Hatchards, the connection becomes clear.

Hatchards has always stood at the meeting point of authors, readers, royalty, reformers, historians, and public debate. My books stand at the meeting point of genealogy, royal descent, forgotten records, family identity, and historical correction.

Hatchards’ own history includes royal readers, political pamphlets, abolitionist texts, literary figures, and authors from Sir Walter Scott to Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde, and possibly Jane Austen.  My work enters that same broad tradition of books that do more than entertain. They document. They challenge. They preserve.

This is why it is important.

Because books like mine are not simply personal projects. They are records of families, movements, inheritance, and history. They show how the past lives on through names, land, bloodlines, books, and memory.

For my work to be seen in Hatchards is to place it within a living literary tradition that began in 1797: a tradition of booksellers, publishers, authors, historians, royal readers, and serious readers who understand that books can carry legacy.

And that is exactly what my work does.

It carries legacy.

A New Chapter in Heritage, Craft, and Tradition

We are proud to announce the official opening of The House of Vere — our Scottish tartan and heritage boutique, created to honour the ancestral lines of the Weirs, de Veres, MacDonalds, Logans, Grants, and the wider kin who form our historic tapestry.

The House of Vere brings our legacy into the modern world through a curated range of authentic Scottish garments, including kilts, shawls, scarves, and accessories woven exclusively in Scotland. Every piece is crafted in our newly registered tartan — now formally accepted by the Scottish Government and protected through the Scottish Register of Tartans.

This boutique marks a major milestone:
the first time our ancestral colours, patterns, and symbolism are being made available to descendants, supporters, and friends of the Court around the world.

With the launch of the House of Vere, we unite heritage, craftsmanship, and identity, offering garments that can be worn with pride, lineage, and meaning.

A home for our tartan.
A home for our history.
A home for those who walk the road of their ancestors.

Welcome to The House of Vere.