William Willey & Sons of Sheffield 1830s-1840s

[silicondale]

I'm looking for any information about (or even better, surviving knives produced by) the firm of William Willey & Sons of Sheffield. They were manufacturers of pocket knives, razors, and table knives in the 1830s and 1840s. Although the partnership dissolved in the mid-1840s when one son Henry moved to Liverpool, and William and his youngest son William moved to London, the remaining son Charles continued making knves in Sheffield for several more years. When William Willey completed his apprenticeship in 1831 and gained his freedom, he was awarded theright to use the trademark "RAILWAY", though I have no idea whether he ever actually used this mark.

After leaving Sheffield, William set up two cutlery shops in London, one on Fish Street Hill in the City and one on the notorious Ratcliff Highway in the East End. After his death in 1853 his son-in-law Evan Evans took over the Fish Street Hill shop, and William's son, also named William, took over the Ratcliff Highway shop which continued operating until the 1890s, though I think it unlikely that he was manufacturing knives after the 1850s.

Because the Ratcliff Highway shop was very close to the London Docks, and Henry's shop was in Liverpool, another major seaport, it is very likely that the clientele consisted largely of seamen, so their knives could now turn up almost anywhere in the world.

As far as I know, there is no connection at all between William Willey and the American knife-making firm in Delaware.

Any information welcomed!! William Willey was my g-g-g-grandfather.

-Steve

[TripleF]

WOW, cool to know you're related!

to AAPK!

[Ramrod]

Steve,

Welcome.
If there are any of them out there, I would expect this is the place they would turn up. Give it some time and I bet someone here knows something about them.
Very cool family connection there.
Mark

[tjmurphy]

Yep, I would almost bet that either Miller Bros. or K7K will have one. There's not much that those guys haven't seen.

[silicondale]

I guess you're right, Mark and tjm - the world of knife specialists seems to be a global village! I nearly found one - a razor that had been for sale by Stuart Wilson, on a different forum - unfortunately already sold. This one was made by Henry Willey, William's son who left to set up his own firm in Liverpool.

As for the family connection, I've been piecing it together over the past few years, but there are still many gaps. Unfortunately no surviving photos or oral family history, because my great-grandmother and great-grandfather separated in about 1904 and anything connected to my great-grandfather was lost. However, from a fourth cousin who lives in New Zealand, I now have a copy of a letter written by Mary Willey, wife of the younger William. It doesn't shed any light at all on the cutlery business, but is nice to have. I do also have a couple of letters from the 1890s (given to me by the same cousin) which show that the cutlery shop was still open then. Oddly, for a few years in the 1990s I lived in the Loondon docklands very close to where the shop had been but then knew nothing about the family history. Of course by then the whole area had been re-developed and the shop itself had long ago been destroyed either by bombing in the war or by bulldozers afterwards.

- Steve

[Ramrod]

Hopefully a member here (smiling-knife) will see your post and may know something about the company. I THINK he is from the UK, and knows alot about Sheffield knives.
Good luck on your search for more info.
Mark

[knife7knut]

Yep, I would almost bet that either Miller Bros. or K7K will have one. There's not much that those guys haven't seen.

Thanks for the kind words TJ.Unfortunately that is one maker I have not heard of before but I will try and do some research on the name.

[tjmurphy]

OH!! I'm shattered

[silicondale]

k7k (and others) -

A resource that might be of interest (not just for this enquiry) is http://www.sheffieldrecordsonline.org.uk/
It is mainly concered with family history, but also includes the Hallamshire Cutlers Apprentices Index, a searcahble database, and there are also a number of trade directories that have been indexed.

-Steve

[smiling-knife]

Welcome to the site Steve. Sorry I don't have any knives or further information. You could try posting at britishblades.com. You should be able to get some further information there. Good luck s-k

[silicondale]

Many thanks, s-k. Will try the British Blades site. That's where I found the Henry Willey razor. Too bad it was already sold!

[Miller Bro's]

I'm looking for any information about (or even better, surviving knives produced by) the firm of William Willey & Sons of Sheffield. They were manufacturers of pocket knives, razors, and table knives in the 1830s and 1840s.

The name does not ring a bell, although I may have one and just don`t remember, I will check when I have time.

When William Willey completed his apprenticeship in 1831 and gained his freedom, he was awarded theright to use the trademark "RAILWAY", though I have no idea whether he ever actually used this mark.

This does sound familiar, the "Railway' trademark

Thanks for posting the information you do have on your relative

[silicondale]

My own thoughts about the 'Railway' trademark are that it was very early. When it was awarded in 1831 the concept of railways was really in its infancy. This was only two years after the Rainhill Trials on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (won by Stephenson's Rocket locomotive)

It wasn't until the 1840s that large-scale railway schemes started in the UK and elsewhere.

So in the early 1830s it was just a modern-sounding word, just like 'Quantum' or 'Laser' today. I suspect that many knives marked 'Railway' might have been thrown away subsequently on the erroneous assumption that they had been mass-produced for use by some railway company or other, and thus were of little value.

[orvet]

Interesting history.
Welcome to AAPK & thanks for sharing about your family.

I hope we can discover more info about William Willey & Sons!

[silicondale]

Making real progress now. Have made contact with Geoff Tweedale. Although the Willey firm isn't in his directory, he knows about them, and we are exchanging information. Still not a large amount, and no closer to finding an actual knife made by the firm, but main objective on the way to being achieved. Thanks to all for your encouragement - and Ihope to keep in touch: it's an interestiong community .... I might even become a collector myself one of these days.

[chetr1200c]

if you ever come across one of their knives, come back with some pics...heck,, come back even if you don't score a knife

[orvet]

Ihope to keep in touch: it's an interestiong community .... I might even become a collector myself one of these days.

I hope you do come back.
You seem to be interested in history and knife collecting is all about history!

[silicondale]

Absolutely! -- will certainly keep in touch.