Sheffield, knife, ware, plate

[RichardB]

Sheffield

[sheffeild; sheafeild]

Sheffield in southern Yorkshire is situated at the conjunction of the River Sheaf and the River Don. It was well sited for manufacture, having nearby sources of IRON and streams for water power. After 1751 the River Don was made navigable - a further boost to the town. In 1761 the first stagecoach left for London, and the following year a theatre and a public assembly room were built by subscription. Sheffield's first bank was opened in 1786, and a fine infirmary in 1793. Abraham Rees claimed that he mentioned these in some detail as they were 'calculated to display the progressive benefits resulting from successful industry and ingenuity, the contemplation of which can scarcely fail to excite pleasurable emotions in every breast' [Rees (1819-20, 1972 ed.)]. However, the amenities of the town and its architectural qualities never excited the attention of travellers like BIRMINGHAM or MANCHESTER did, though they remained fascinated by the iron works [Cox and Dannehl (2007 forthcoming)].

Sheffield had long been a centre of the manufacture of IRON, becoming a STAPLE for IRON WARE in the thirteenth century. For several centuries, however, this was confined almost entirely to making EDGE TOOLs, and in particular SHEATH knives, SCISSORS, SICKLEs and SCYTHEs. In the sixteenth century, production was assisted by the arrival of Flemish immigrants [simpson (online)]. In the early seventeenth century the JEWS HARP and 'an ordinary kind of tobacco box of iron' were added to the range. In 1625 the master cutlers were incorporated as the 'Company of Cutlers of Hallamshire' [Rees (1819-20, 1972 ed.)].

In the 1740s Benjamin Huntsman (1704-1776), a Sheffield man born to German parents, made huge improvements to the then current methods of making STEEL. As so often happens with innovations generally, this new product was rejected by the Cutlers of Sheffield who claimed the steel was too hard to work. As a result, the Sheffield cutlers lost out for a time to manufacturers in France, who had adopted the methods and began to export knives to England.

However, by the 1750s, the Sheffield cutlers themselves had apparently mastered the new steel [simpson (online)].

By the second half of the eighteenth century, the manufacture of SHEFFIELD WARE was roughly divided into two divisions; the making of SHEFFIELD PLATE, the manufacture of which was more or less confined to the town, and that of CUTLERY and other edge tools, which was more widespread, with workers scattered throughout the surrounding country [Rees (1819-20, 1972 ed.)].

OED earliest date of use: c1386

Found describing AWL, SCISSORS

See also SHEFFIELD KNIFE.

Sources: Acts, Inventories (early), Houghton, Inventories (mid-period), Inventories (late), Newspapers, Rates, Tradecards.

References: Cox and Dannehl (2007 forthcoming), Rees (1819-20, abridged 1972), Simpson (online).

Sheffield knife

[sheffield knives; sheffeild turrell knives; sheffeild knives; sheffeild black haft knives; sheafeild knyves]

A KNIFE manufactured in SHEFFIELD, which was famous for its CUTLERY. Sheffield knives were clearly identifiable, and before 1700 were listed as such by appraisers, for example [inventories (1577)]. After that date, knives have not been noted as from Sheffield in probate inventories, though they were still seen as worth listing to promote the quality of a retailer's wares, as in the advertisement for 'Sheffield Cutlery, consisting of Table and Carving Knives and Forks, Desert Knives and Forks, Pen and Pocket-Knives, Scissors and Razors' [Newspapers (1782)].

OED online earliest date of use: 1575

Found described as ORDINARY, in a SHEATH

Found in units of DOZEN, PAIR Found rated by the SMALL GROSS of 12 DOZEN

Sources: Inventories (early), Inventories (mid-period), Rates.

Sheffield plate

In 1742, Thomas Bolsover of Sheffield (1704-1788) pioneered the making of Sheffield Plate. This was done by fusing SILVER and COPPER ingots and rolling them together. A thin sheet of silver was placed above and below the copper to make a sandwich and the whole was then heated and rolled. It was at first used to make BUTTONs but was soon adopted for a wide variety of goods. Sheffield Plate was known and used throughout the world, but was ultimately superseded by the electroplating process developed in 1840 [simpson (online)]. Unlike the manufacture of CUTLERY and EDGE TOOLs, for which Sheffield was also famous, that of Sheffield plate was confined to the town [Rees (1819-20, 1972 ed.)].

The rapid expansion of the manufacture led to inevitable skill shortages, and the equally inevitable advertisements for skilled workers from other centres of expertise, as the one in a Birmingham newspapers for a 'Dye Cutter, for the Plated Business' who was 'Wanted immediately' [Newspapers (1780)]. The importance of these plated goods is reflected in an act of 1773 'for appointing Wardens and Assay Masters for assaying Wrought Plate ... in Sheffield and Birmingham' [Acts (1773)].

Advertisement show the range of goods available in Sheffield plate. One for example claimed to sell 'at reduced Prices, all Sorts of Sheffield Plated Goods of the best Quality, Variety of Table and Desert Knives and Forks in Silver, Plated, Ivory, Buck, Stag and Wood Hafts, Penknives, Scissars, and Razors, by the best Makers' [Newspapers (1790)].

OED online earliest date of use: 1774 under Dish

See also SHEFFIELD WARE.

Sources: Newspapers, Tradecards.

References: Rees (1819-20, abridged 1972), Simpson (online).

Sheffield ware

Also known as Sheffield goods, the two terms seem to have been interchangeable. They denoted CUTLERY, EDGE TOOLs, SHEFFIELD PLATE and other similar goods made in SHEFFIELD, or possibly in the style or fashion of articles made there. Sheffield ware was roughly divided into two; those goods long produced in the town and the surrounding countryside that made Sheffield famous for its TOOLs and cutlery, and the luxury goods, that is Sheffield plate, made in the town.

In trade the term was often associated with BIRMINGHAM WARE in phrases such as 'Sheffield & Birmingham goods', to the extent that they almost appear to have been regarded as synonymous. Whatever the subtle distinctions between the two, the quality of the goods subsumed under the two terms denoted quality. The connotation was even used by one London cutler, who saw fit to add to his advertisement, which lauded the goods he himself made and sold, that he also stocked 'all Sorts of Birmingham & Sheffield Ware' [Tradecards (18c.)]. Another London advertisement gives some indication of some of the 'Sheffield & Birmingham Goods' available, though the list was by no means complete: 'VIZ. Knives, Sizers, Buckles, Buttons, Combs & Snuff Boxes' [Tradecards (18c.)]. Even in the spa town Bath there was a 'London, Sheffield & Birmingham Repository' in the 1780s [Tradecards (1789)].

OED earliest date of use: 1745 for Sheffield ware; 1830 for Sheffield goods under Glove

See also SHEFFIELD KNIFE.

Sources: Newspapers, Tradecards.

From: 'Sheep - Sheppick', Dictionary of Traded Goods and Commodities, 1550-1820 (2007).

URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.as...ery=hallamshire