The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire
The motto is translated in Hunter's Hallamshire
"to succeed in business take care to keep up your credit"
The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire was created in 1624 by an Act of Parliament. It ordered that “all persons using to make Knives, Blades, Scissers, Sheeres, Sickles, Cutlery wares, and all other wares and manufactures made or wrought of yren and steele, dwelling or inhabiting within the said Lordship and Liberty of Hallamshire, or within sixe miles compasse of the same, be from henceforth, and hereafter may be in deed and in name one body politique, perpetuall, and incorporate of one Master, two Wardens, sixe Searchers, and foure and twenty Assistants a comminalty of the said Company of Cutlers, of the Lordship of Hallamshire, in the County of Yorke.”
A boy could become a cutler if he was the son of a freeman of the Cutlers' Co, or if he served an apprenticeship of at least seven years with a master (until he was 21 years old). Paupers placed with the family of a cutler could also train as an apprentice but generally only half the apprentices took out their freedoms on completing their terms. Many remained as journeymen or ran away to London or the Navy.
Each cutler was issued with a mark to identify their work which enabled the wardens and searchers to trace and fine a cutler for inferior workmanship. Later such marks became individual 'trademarks' for quality. The Company's aim was to preserve the reputation of goods produced in Sheffield but they also protected the cutlery trade. The Hearth Tax levied between 1662 – 1689 imposed, in addition to the tax on domestic hearths, a levy on smithies (despite the Act exempting 'blowing houses, stamp furnaces and kilns'). The Company tried litigation, lobbying the Lord Treasurer and eventually resorted to bribing the tax collectors until the tax was abolished. Their efforts succeeded in attracting awlbladesmiths, scythesmiths and filesmiths to join the Company.
There was a great expansion of the cutlery trade in the 18th century with a large increase in apprentices serving with journeymen (contrary to the legislation). This led to the 'Freeman's Revolt' of 1784-1791, with many strikes and an acrimonious dispute over the self-election of the 33 Members who governed the Cutlers' Co. -the Freemen wanting the right to elect the executive. This coincided with a general demand throughout the country for reform of the electoral system and the outbreak of the French Revolution. The British Government was concerned that a similar revolution might occur – Sheffield was considered the most radical town in Britain.
In 1791 a new Act was passed which allowed the sale of freedoms to outsiders for £20, making the trade open to anyone but limiting the number of apprentices per master – a hollow victory for the freemen. The Cutlers' Co. revenue increased and they could afford to be generous to good causes in Sheffield (eg General Infirmary), to the poor of the parish and to other public projects (£500 to the new Town Hall). They also spent lavishly on feasts but by 1810, the Cutlers' Co. was near ruin and extinction. In 1814 a new Act abolished the restrictions of freemen and exempted fees. They borrowed £6500 in 1832 to build a new Cutlers' Hall which still stands in Church St. The Cutlers' Co. existed only for the protection of marks and retained no real purpose until the admission in 1860 of steel, saw and edge tool trades when they became a more active trade society protecting the name of “Sheffield”.
Sources;
Binfield C. and Hey D. Mesters
to Masters
Oxford
University Press, 1997.
Bell A.B. and Leader R.E. Peeps
into the Past; being passages from the diary of Thomas Asline Ward
London; W.C. Leng, 1909.
The
Myers Family History -The Cutlers' Company of Hallamshire
Cathy Clarke, Wellington, New Zealand
email: catherine.clarke@clear.net.nz
Last updated: 9 Oct 2009
