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John Y Cowlishaw


RichardB

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John Y Cowlishaw, Electro-plater & fruit knife maker of 89 Arundel Street (Kelly's 1893)

John Y Cowlishaw, Manufacturer of gold & silver fruit knives of 101 Napier Street (White's 1919)

John Y Cowlishaw, Manufacturer of gold & silver fruit knives of 101 Napier Street (Kelly's 1925)

Cowlishaw Road is named after this man, now what does the initial "Y" stand for ? and has anyone got any of his work, or even pictures ?

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Guest Smiling-Knife

Hi Richard. The Y is for Yeomans. According to Simon Moore's book, Penknives and other folding knives, JYC produced some of the finest mid 19th cent fruit knives. The book has a small B & W photo of some knives. If you don't have the book, please let me know.

added: from a source called White's 857 directory (1857?) under Cutlery-Silver, Fruit, and desert knife mfrs.

Cowlishaw J. Y., yd 8 Market st

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Hi Richard. The Y is for Yeomans. According to Simon Moore's book, Penknives and other folding knives, JYC produced some of the finest mid 19th cent fruit knives. The book has a small B & W photo of some knives. If you don't have the book, please let me know.

added: from a source called White's 857 directory (1857?) under Cutlery-Silver, Fruit, and desert knife mfrs.

Cowlishaw J. Y., yd 8 Market st

I don't have the book, though I think I may have read a friends copy; not sure !!

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Sorry to bring a sombre tone to this thread, but...

Sheffield Local Register

23 Jan 1895

Mr. J. Y. Cowlishaw, of Tapton Cliffe, Fulwood

road, shoots himself: Verdict of coroner's jury,

" Suicide while temporarily insane."

28 Aug 1895

Tapton Cliffe, the residence of the late Mr. J.

Y. Cowlishaw, sold to Mr. J. J. Saville for £4500.

25 Oct 1895

The real and personal estate of the late John

Yeomans Cowlishaw, of Tapton Cliffe, Sheffield,

proved at £63,879.

A detailed pedigree on Genforum

which includes:

John Yeomans Cowlishaw, born on 7 May 1829, in Sheffield, England - died on 23 January 1895, at Rotherham, Yorkshire, England. John and his brother, Joseph, were raised by their uncle, John Newton Mappin, who inherited the Masbro’ [Marsborough] Old Brewery business and co-founded a cutlery business. The boys were later placed in the custody of a spinster aunt, Elizabeth Mappin, who believed the boys were ill served being associated with the “evils” of the brewing industry. John eventually apprenticed in the cutlery trade and later owned his own business. John married on 24 August 1853, at St. John Church Broughton in the Salford District of Manchester in Lancashire, England Sarah Briddon, born 11 December 1828 (christened on 11 December 1828), in Manchester, England - died on 16 November 1893, in Sheffield, England. Sarah was buried on 20 November 1893, in the General Cemetery at Sheffield.

An antipodean grandson

Hugh

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Guest George21

I have a JYC Fruit Knife.

Images attached.

Anyone wanna fill me in with any dates or valuations?

I looked at Silvermarks and the relevant dates that the letters mean. But I cannot find a match for the particular font used on this knife. The "Y".

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Guest happygrinder

I have a JYC Fruit Knife.

Images attached.

Anyone wanna fill me in with any dates or valuations?

I looked at Silvermarks and the relevant dates that the letters mean. But I cannot find a match for the particular font used on this knife. The "Y".

Just thought you may find these interesting

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Guest happygrinder

Can anyone let me know when J Y Cowlishaw had a workshop on Portland Works

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In Tweedales Directory it makes no mention of Portland Works, it does say that the firm stayed on Arundel St.

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Can anyone let me know when J Y Cowlishaw had a workshop on Portland Works

In Tweedales Directory it makes no mention of Portland Works, it does say that the firm stayed on Arundel St.

1975, if this is correct ....

"Needham Engineering Ompan Ltd. (formerly Needham Engineering Ltd.); J.Y. Cowlishaw Ltd., cutlers; Wm. Needham, jeweller and E. Atkinson and Sons Ltd. Portland Works, Hill Street"

Link to picturesheffield

Not saying it was the sme J.Y. Cowlishaw?

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Does anyone know if this J Y Cowlishaw was related in anyway to the farming families of the Park District and around Manor Lodge?

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Sorry to bring a sombre tone to this thread, but...

Sheffield Local Register

23 Jan 1895

Mr. J. Y. Cowlishaw, of Tapton Cliffe, Fulwood

road, shoots himself: Verdict of coroner's jury,

" Suicide while temporarily insane."

28 Aug 1895

Tapton Cliffe, the residence of the late Mr. J.

Y. Cowlishaw, sold to Mr. J. J. Saville for £4500.

25 Oct 1895

The real and personal estate of the late John

Yeomans Cowlishaw, of Tapton Cliffe, Sheffield,

proved at £63,879.

The newspaper article goes on to list the "the larger and more commodious premises in Arundel Street" as among his assets, and the 1893 Kelly’s Directory for Sheffield contains an entry “John Y Cowlishaw, Electro-plater & fruit knife maker of 89 Arundel Street".

By 1901 the Sheffield Pearl Works was being managed by George Clifford Saville at 89 Arundel Street, and an article in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 14 Feb 1914 page 15, states "The founder of the present firm, the late Mr. George Saville, took over the business from Mr. J. J. Saville, through whom the claim is made that these works were the birthplace of the trade in Sheffield, he having actually introduced the first cut shell into Solingen, the Sheffield of Germany.” (The "late Mr George Saville" was the father of the man runing the place in 1901.)

Can anyone shed any light on how this works passed from John Cowlishaw's estate to John James Saville? There is a family tradition that it was acquired in settlement of a debt, but if so it must have been a big one.

John.

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Hi there every one, haven't been on here lately, still collecting Sheffield knives and repairing some if possible,just come back Fromm a long weekend down Dorset and came across in an antique shop a J Y C,silver fruit knife and as you have been discussing this maker wondered if you could date it for me please.

IMG_20190810_151851.jpg

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Hello, I can possibly offer some dating to the knife blades.

1567396556_J.YCPOS2MARKSu1912y1941.jpg.4a1eea28638d1901a212d166308a31c3.jpg

The oldest of the 2 blades belongs to Adrian's knife.  We see the crown mark and know tha blades were marked by the Sheffield Guild and thus I read the date letter as a stylised "u" and it means the silver was assayed just before WW1 in 1912. If the letter is not a "u", but is a fairly similar styled "n", it would be for 1905.

George21's blade is wartime but likely WW2. The date letter, a lower case "y", that was used for 1941. The silver website "silvermakersmarks.co.uk" states that after the suicide the silver business was carried on by a son and gives 4 addresses for the base "Market Street, Sheffield; then in succession: Baker's Hill; Arundel Street; Napier Street" over the period 1862- 1950.

Kalfred

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Quite a few John Y Cowlishaw items appear on Ebay, This lovely silver pocket button hook is on at the moment for 48.00 including postage and described as   ------  

" A fine antique Sterling silver Folding Pocket Button Hook ,the Mother of Pearl polished and engraved to one face polished flower handle side , the hook silver with hallmarks has signs of use , this beautiful item is hallmarked sterling silver for John Yeomans Cowlishaw ,Sheffield Sterling . L = 1903 Cowlishaw killed himself late 1890 s ,the mark continued to be used by his son ,the Silver with small use marks need a clean in the details , the spring action fine and tight the mother of pearl in good condition ,sold as shown , the size approx 5.5 cm long x 1.2 cm wide , it will improve with a clean, lots of high quality items listed . New to the market from House Clearance . "

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/antique-Sterling-Silver-pocket-Button-Hook-M-O-P-John-Y-Cowlishaw-Sheff-1903/323788912386?hash=item4b6352b702:g:IloAAOSwNZxcwg03

john_y_cowlishaw_button_hook_open.jpg

john_y_cowlishaw_button_hook_closed.jpg

john_y_cowlishaw_marks.jpg

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The carving of a solitary Yorkshire rose can be seen on the former home of John Yeomans Cowlishaw, this house, Tapton Cliffe, can be found off Fulwood Road, in the past years it was part of the St Dunstan organisation for the blind and partially sighted, the house is now empty and up for sale and its once neat lawns and gardens are left to grow wild.
John Yeomans Cowlishaw, born on 7 May 1829, in Sheffield, he was the son of John Henry Cowlishaw and Mary Ann Mappin, his father was a clothier and traveller, his mother was the daughter of Joseph Mappin of Mappin Bros soon to be Mappin and Webb. After his fathers death John and his brother, Joseph, were raised by their uncle, John Newton Mappin, who inherited the Masboro Old Brewery business and co-founded a cutlery business. The boys were later placed in the custody of a spinster aunt, Elizabeth Mappin, who believed the boys were ill served being associated with the brewing industry. John was eventually apprenticed in the art of Pearl cutting at Mappin's on Pepper Alley, in  1851 he was still living with his spinster aunt Elizabeth. In c1854, when he was twenty four years old, John set up his own business in Norfolk Street as a silver fruit knife maker and mother of pearl cutter, he was also an agent for his uncles brewery in Rotherham, when his uncle John retired John Y bought the silver and pearl business off his uncle and absorbed it into his own business. He moved premises to Market Street, this street was where the White Buildings are soon to be incorporated into Fitzalan Square, it was at this address in 1854 where he got his first silver sponsor mark JYC, just eight years later he moved to Bakers Hill, not the small remnant we see today, then it ran from the bottom of Norfolk Street to Pond Street, another move in 1876 saw the business at 67 Arundel Street but he still retained his Sheffield Pearl Works on bakers Hill. It was the Arundel Street address that became his only address as a pearl cutter and a producer of silver fruit knives, by 1881 he employed fifty workers and he also brought his sons John Edward and Frederick into the business.
His knives were second to none, so good in fact he hardly had to advertise them, Its known that President Abraham Lincoln carried a fruit knife made by Cowlishaw's, his knives made him a very rich man, he had attained everything in life that he reached for, but his world came to an abrupt end when   his wife Sarah died on 16th of November 1893, Sarah was buried on 20 November 1893, in the General Cemetery at Sheffield. John never got over her loss and depression set in, he tried to continue without her but by December 1895 a his depression became worse, his family and friends noticed this change and urged him to take a holiday away from work and the surroundings of his home that was filled with memories of Sarah, he just replied that he would soon be better, on Tuesday the 22nd of January, he went to work as usual, he called at the Hallamshire Bank then had lunch at the Sheffield club, he went home and he seemed a little low but he dined with Mr A Chambers on Tapton House Road, he returned home around nine o’clock, he had a restless night and he rang for some tea in the early hours of Wednesday morning, he didn’t get up when first called but came down for breakfast a little later and he seemed a bit more cheerful, shortly after breakfast he was seen on the landing by one of his servants carrying his shotgun, this gun was usually kept under Johns bed, a short time later the servants in the kitchen heard a noise and put it down to a draught banging a door shut, around twenty past ten Dr Inkster called to see Miss Smith, the housekeeper, having attended to her he asked to see her employer, Mr Cowlishaw, Elizabeth Clark the waiting maid was sent to fetch him but couldn’t find him, she went to his water closet and knocked on the door but there was no answer, young Elizabeth was sent back to the closet and told this time knock and if there’s no reply she should go in, on doing as instructed and to her horror she found John in the corner with blood streaming from his head, she ran downstairs and fetched Dr Inkster, John had apparently pointed the gun towards his mouth and managed to pull the trigger, the discharge in an upwards direction took off the upper part of his head.
One of his friends said at the inquest that just a few days prior to his suicide he confided in him that “he sees nothing but the workhouse for him“, his home was filled with priceless works of art and rich beyond anything he would need. The verdict of coroner's jury was "Suicide while temporarily insane". 
His home Tapton Cliffe, was sold to Mr. J. J. Saville for £4500. 25th of Oct 1895, in his will he left £63,879, this house today would be worth up and beyond £500,000.
After John Yeomans  Cowlishaw’s death in 1895, his son John Edward Cowlishaw took over running the company until his retirement in 1901. The Cowlishaw name passed out of the family and was run from various different addresses in the city. By the early 1970s the company was based at Portland Works, Hill Street.

 

 

Yorkshire Rose onTapton Cliffe former home of John Yeomans Cowlishaw up to his suicide in 1895. John was a reknow cutlery manufacturer.png

Tapton Cliffe former home of John Yeomans Cowlishaw up to his suicide in 1895. John was a reknow cutlery manufacturer.png

 

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