Sheffield Cutlery History | Mike Moran Knives

This page is dedicated to the history of cutlery in Sheffield. Long before pocket knives were made in the USA, they were made and refined in England by some amazing craftsmen - all centered in the city of Sheffield. I am not an expert on Sheffield cutlery history, in fact, I've never been to Sheffield. However, to truly understand American pocket cutlery history, one must understand its roots.

Resources in the Public Domain

History of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire Vol. 1 - 1905

History of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire Vol. 2 - 1906

Knight's Penny Magazine. "A Day at the Sheffield Cutlery Works", United Kingdom, Charles Knight, 1844.

Taylor, John. The illustrated guide to Sheffield and the surrounding district. United Kingdom, Pawson and Brailsford, 1879.

Mechanic Exercises or the The Doctrine of Handy-Works - 1703

On the prevention and treatment of the Sheffield grinders' disease - 1857

Sheffield: Past and Present - 1873

The Sheffield Dialect - 2nd Ed. (1st published in1839)

The Cutlery Trades - An Historical Essay in the Economis of Small-Scale Production - 1913

Coward, Henry. Reminiscences of Henry Coward. London: J. Curwen & sons Ltd, 1919

Unwin, Margaret Joan (2003) The Hallamshire cutlery trades in the late 17th century : a study of the Hearth Tax returns and the records of the Cutlers' Company. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.

Beauchamp, Victoria Anne (1997) The workshops of the cutlery industry in Hallamshire 1750-1900 Vol 1. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.

Beauchamp, Victoria Anne (1997) The workshops of the cutlery industry in Hallamshire 1750-1900 Vol 2. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.

Taylor, Sally-Ann (1988) Tradition and change : the Sheffield cutlery trades 1870-1914 Vol 1. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.

Taylor, Sally-Ann (1988) Tradition and change : the Sheffield cutlery trades 1870-1914 Vol 2. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.

Books:

(Note: I've provided a list of books I've read here. Some may be out of print or difficult to find, but it doesn't make them less interesting!)

Tweedale, Geoffrey. Sheffield Steel and America: A Century of Commercial and Technological Interdependence 1830-1930. 1st ed., Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Tweedale, Geoffrey. The Sheffield Knife Book: A History & Collectors Guide. The Hallamshire Press, 1996.

Tweedale, Geoffrey. Stan Shaw, Master Cutler: The Story of a Sheffield Craftsman. Hallamshire Press, 1993.

Tweedale, Geoffrey. Tweedale’s Directory of Sheffield Cutlery Manufacturers 1740-2013, Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition. 2nd ed., Knife World, 2021.

Turner, C. Sheffield Heritage: Anthology of Photographs and Words of the Cutlery Craftsmen. University of Sheffield & Sheffield Trades Historical Society, 1978.

Housley, Herbert. Back to the Grindstone. The Hallamshire Press, 1998.

Binfield, Clyde, and David Hey. Mesters to Masters: A History of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire. 1st ed., Oxford University Press, 1997.

Jenkins, Clare, and Stephen McClarence. On the Knife Edge: The inside Story of the Sheffield Cutlery Industry. SCL Publishing, 1989.

Drewry, Mick. Intimidation: The History, The Times And The People Of The Sheffield Outrages. Austin Macauley Publishing, 2017.

Bill Adams (Editor). Sheffield Exhibition Knives. Old World Publishing, Ltd, 1999.