SHEFFIELD'S LIFE STORIES.

1861. Joseph Hunter.-Dr. Joseph Hunter, Sheffield's great historian, passed away
immediately prior to the opening of the period covered by the present book. He
was born on February 6th, 1782, and died on May 9th, 1861, at Terrington Square,
London, being buried four days later in Ecclesall Churchyard. In a monograph of
the great historian, Mr. Charles Drury tells us that the plate on the coffin
bore the following simple words: "Joseph Hunter Esq. F.S.A., a keeper of the
public records, died May 9, 1861, aged 78 years." The esteem in which deceased
was held was very eloquently shown at the funeral, and round the graveside a
company as select as Sheffield could then produce gathered in respect. Dr.
Hunter was born in a house situate on the north side of New Church Street, near
the Norfolk Street end, which was pulled down, according to Dr. Julian Hunter,
when Surrey Street was cut through, and the historian himself wrote that his
first known male ancestor certainly lived at Hatfield House when Charles the
First was King. Precocious in his youth, it is reported that Dr. Hunter in his
schooldays had a great love for the antiquities of the district in which he
lived, and that he filled many notebooks then with copies of monumental
inscriptions, collections of church notes, coats of arms, and so on.  His
natural successors in such things in these days must regret their lack of the
same fruitful ready-to-hand harvest, and at the same time be proud in the
recollection that this enthusiast of a hundred years ago found time and a
sufficient enthusiasm to gather together for future ages the story which lay
around him in page and stone. Hunter's first Hallamshire was published in 1819.
The author held many honours in London, where he was a sub-commissioner of the
public records. He was for many years vice-president of the Society of
Antiquarians, and he has been described as "in person and manners a gentleman of
the old school--grave, accurate, and courteous in conversation; abounding in
topographical and genealogical knowledge of both a general and minute character
which he was ever willing to communicate to others."  The sale of his library in
the year of his death extended over four days and produced £1,105, whilst his
manuscript collections were purchased by the British Museum, consisting of
genealogical, topographical, philological and literary collections in Hunter's
own handwriting. Fifty years after the first Hallamshire came out a second
edition was produced, edited by the late Dr. Gatty, who spent much time and
labour in incorporating in the original work a great deal of additional matter
which had been collected by Hunter, as well as notes and additions from his own
pen. Dr. Gatty has explained how this enlarged edition came into existence. As
will be found set out in the life of Dr. Gatty elsewhere, after Hunter's death
four local gentlemen purchased his own copy of his Hallamshire, which contained
the following: "This large paper copy I have had bound for the purpose of
receiving any corrections or additional information that may present themselves.
Joseph Hunter. Bath, August 20, 1826."

1864. William Flockton, who died in 1864 at Glossop Road, was son of a Sheffield
builder.   He became an architect, and the Wesley College and The Mount in
Glossop Road are memorials of his ability. It was to him that the distinction
fell of practically rebuilding Bakewell Church from its foundations, a task
including the delicate one of exhuming and redepositing the remains of the
Rutland family, including those of Dorothy Vernon.  Mr. Flockton afterwards
published an account of that work.

1865. G. Calvert Holland.--Dr. George Calvert Holland was born in 1801 at
Pitsmoor, then an outlying hamlet, at a time when salmon was speared in the Don.
He was apprenticed to a perruquier, and here he learned his first of rude
surgery. When 16 he was stimulated to write verses, and became a regular
contributor to the local weekly papers.  He gradually broadened in his outlook,
ransacked libraries for histories, books of science and travel, and, especially,
the classics. Gradually, amid stupendous difficulties, he secured a knowledge of
French, Italian, and Latin, and read Virgil and Petrarch in the original. He
had, long before, fretted over following his uncle's trade as perruquier, and at
last a relation, a surgeon, sent him to Edinburgh. For three years he toiled
there, and took his degree; thence he went to Paris, and patiently studied
anatomy, physiology, and pathology.  Guizot examined him for his degree of
Bachelor of Arts, and he was full of honours when he became M.A. of Edinburgh,
subsequently commencing practice in Manchester, and later in Sheffield, where in
a few years his income rose to £1,400. When railway speculation began in 1843 he
was chairman of several companies and director of others, until the crash came,
and he was served with a writ for £54,000.  He was then living at Wadsley Hall,
a country gentleman, was driven into bankruptcy, and thenceforward lived in a
small cottage in Worksop.  Even then he wrote his "Philosophy of Animated
Nature," though in poverty and distress.  His buoyant spirit kept him going, but
in 1851, after trying his fortunes in London, he found opinion against him
because he had practised homeopathy, at that time heresy in medicine. He was a
man of the most amiable, learned and gifted character. He died in March, 1865. 
As his biographer said, "it is sad to think that he has done so little for his
age and that his age has done so little for him."  He had held the position of
chairman of the Hunterian and Physical Research Societies in Edinburgh, was
Bachelor of Letters of the University of Paris, and author of many standard
works.  He was a man of the most courtly kindliness, and his fine philosophic
spirit remained with him to the end, despite his reverses.

David Davy.-Mr. David Davy, founder of the great business which bears his name,
who died in 1865, was quite a Sheffield-made man.  In his career was a large
spice of romance. After completing his apprenticeship he set up a lathe in his
mother's house in Glossop Road, and spent all his leisure time on it. The result
was that he built up a considerable connexion, though for years working in
secrecy. Then the orders became too heavy, and he started for himself with steam
power.  Later he took his brothers in as partners, and "Davy Bros." was
established, with 600 workmen engaged there at the time of the founder's death.

1866. Godfrey Sykes.--Tardy recognition of the art of Godfrey Sykes came in
June, 1866, when an exhibition of his pictures and work was held in the South
Kensington School of Art. He was then spoken of as the most distinguished of all
students in all schools of design, one who had passed through the treasure
houses of Italy, assimilating all the beauties of Michael Angelo and Raphael,
and to whom an ever abiding monument remained in his work in the Horticultural
Gardens in London.  The monument to his memory in Weston Park was unveiled on
June 12th, 1875, bearing the following inscription:  "Godfrey Sykes, born at
Malton, 1824, pupil and master at the Sheffield School of Art, called to London
in 1859 to superintend his decoration of the South Kensington Museum, and died
there in 1866." A great deal of his best work is to be found in the Ceramic
Gallery of the Victoria and Albert Museum at South Kensington; magnificent work
by the master and his well-known pupils, James Gamble, Reuben Townroe, and Hugh
Stannus.

1869. Thomas Burdett Turton.--Great in his generation, Mr. Thomas Burdett Turton
died at his residence, West Lodge, Sheffield, in December, 1869, when only 63
years old, and his death so closely followed that of Mr. Francis Hoole and Mr.
Samuel Butcher that within the space of one short month three past mayors of the
town had died.  Mr. Turton was associated with the firm of Thomas Turton & Sons,
being the eldest son of Mr. Thomas Turton, who was then in partnership with a
Mr. Gaunt, and the full title was first adopted when the works were in Furnace
Hill, the partners being Mr. T. B. Turton, Mr. Joseph Turton, Mr. Wm. Turton,
and Mr. Matthews, son-in-law of Mr. T. B. Turton.  From Furnace Hill the removal
of the works took place to Sheaf Works, premises which had been greatly extended
by Mr. Greaves at a cost of £60,000, and with such increased facilities that the
firm's business extended enormously. The new spring works were soon found
necessary, and were completed in 1854.  But there came a pronounced mortality in
the partnership, so that within the next four years, when Mr. T. B. Turton
retired, there were alone remaining Mr. F. T. Mappin and Mr. Matthews. Deceased
spent much of his life in the service of his town, making a very important
speech when incorporation came about, being the first presiding alderman of S.
Philip's, Master Cutler in 1846, and four years later Mayor.

1870. William Butcher.--The position of Sheffield's Town Collector has been held
by various gentlemen of high position in the town. Mr. William Butcher, who died
in 1870 at his home, Five Oaks, was a case in point. He was a member of the firm
of W. & S. Butcher, two brothers, and from the beginning of their enterprise
they built up a big business, being extremely successful in trade with the
United States.  Mr. Samuel Butcher died when 78 years old, precisely the same
age as his brother in a later year. Mr. William Butcher showed a fine public
spirit even before the town was incorporated, and held the office of Master
Cutler in 1845.  In the following year he was appointed Town Trustee, and Town
Collector a year later, keeping the position until his death. He was one of the
earliest to take an interest in the formation of the Sheffield Botanical
Gardens, and one of the promoters and for a long time director of the Manchester
and Sheffield Railway.  He left two daughters, both marrying into well-known
Sheffield families, the elder becoming the wife of Mr. J. E. (afterwards
Colonel) Cutler, and the younger of Dr. A. Hall. In his business relations with
his workpeople deceased was generosity itself, and by them, as by the town as a
whole, his death was deeply deplored.

Isaac Ironside.--Mr. Isaac Ironside died at his home, Carr Road, Walkley, in
1870. He was born at Masborough in 1808, and early in life went into Longden &
Walker's Phoenix Foundry. Better still, he stuck to his education, being
constant in his attendances at Eadon's night school until he was reputed the
finest mathematician in the town.   He secured one of the best prizes offered by
the Edinburgh Review for solving problems.  All this took him away from the
foundry to accountancy with his father; he became a great Radical and social
reformer, and for a time was on the staff of the Sheffield Free Press. He became
mixed up in Chartism without sustaining any harm by doing so, and also dabbled
in commercial life.  He was appointed director of the New Gas Company in 1852,
when that company commenced to dig up the streets, lay the pipes, and do other
work, only to have its proceedings declared illegal.  Thus the company was
driven to Parliament for powers which were necessary. There was much money made
in those rather exciting times of the Gas Company's shares, but Isaac Ironside
refused to help himself to any of it.  It was at one time quite probable that he
would be asked to accept the mayoralty of the town.

Samuel Bailey.--Mr. Samuel Bailey, who died in 1870, was a noted writer on
metaphysical and ethical subjects, though at first he was interested in local
trade, being associated with the firm of Eadon, Bailey & Co.  He had much to do
with the formation of the Literary and Philosophical Society in Sheffield, and
at the first meeting, taking place at the Cutlers' Hall on December 12th, 1822,
Mr. T. Asline Ward moved and Mr. S. Bailey seconded the proposal that the
society should be formed. Further than that, Mr. Bailey took a deep interest in
banking. Prior to 1831 all the local banks were in private hands, Parker &
Shore, Walkers & Stanley, and Rimington & Co., but under the new Act of 1828 the
leading gentry began taking interest in the subject, and on July 1st, 1831, the
Sheffield Banking Company was formed, a joint stock bank under the new Act. Mr.
Bailey was chairman, other directors being Jonathan Marshall, Thomas Watson,
Edward Smith, John Read, with James Drabble manager; and John Rodgers was also
very active in the promotion of the new undertaking. Mr. Bailey had the
distinction of presiding over all the first 38 annual meetings of that bank. In
1863 his portrait was presented to him. When he sought election as Sheffield's
member in 1832, his address on the hustings containing the following sentence:
"Place I seek not; pension I would not have.  The utmost of my desires is to
make myself useful to you as your representative." He lived for many years at
Burngreave, then a typically rural district of Sheffield, but as the town
approached he retired to Norbury, with its magnificent landscape views out on
the farther side of the town, and there resided up to his death. A very
interesting paper was read before the members of the Literary and Philosophical
Society on May 3rd, 1887, by Mr. B. Bagshawe, on "Samuel Bailey, the Bentham of
Hallamshire." It was pointed out how singularly he was ignored in England, his
first biographical notice appearing in France, with a very meagre one in the
Encyclopaedia Britannica of those days. He was son of a Burngreave merchant, and
his father-in-law was head of the Free Writing School. The better part of the
youngster's education was secured at Fulneck Moravian School. He was one of the
first to carry the fame of Sheffield manufacturers out of this country, making
many journeys abroad, but there was no charm in business for him. He was
attracted by metaphysics, by the conduct of life and the welfare of the people,
both socially and politically, and his influence on the writings of Adam Smith
was very great.  To a large extent a recluse, he lived a full generation before
his time, and died leaving behind him £102,000 for the benefit of the town.

George Hounsfield.--Very pleasant, entirely away from the town, High Hazels was
at one time a charmingly situated and delightful residence for Sheffield's
commercial princes. One of these was Mr. George Hounsfield, who died there in
1870, when sixty-three years old. He was the only son of Mr. Bartholomew
Hounsfield, a merchant in the town; and the son married a daughter of Mr. Joshua
Scholefield of Birmingham.  Mr. Scholefield was a Sheffielder by birth, and one
of the first Members of Parliament for Birmingham under the Reform Act. In the
years 1849-50, Mr. Hounsfield was deeply engaged in railway matters at a time
when everything went wrong, when the Midland shares went down a full quarter on
the Stock Exchange, and when the stock of the Manchester and Sheffield Company
dropped to an even greater extent.  Mr. Hounsfield was on the Investigation
Committee which dealt with the position of both these Companies, the enquiry
extending over many months, the upshot being that Mr. T. R. Barker (Mr.
Hounsfield's brother-in-law) and Mr. C. F. Younge were appointed directors. In
1864, on the death of Mr. William Smith, Mr. Hounsfield took his place on the
Board of the Midland Railway, and when, in 1868, another very acute period came
in railway matters and the Midland was "caught," because of an immense amount of
capital which had been spent on unfinished works, Mr. Hounsfield stuck by his
colleagues, though the amount at issue was no less than five million pounds, and
it was only when the London and Bradford line was opened that prosperity really
returned to the Midland.  Then, smooth water having been reached, Mr. Hounsfield
resigned his position on the Board, being succeeded by Mr. F. T. Mappin.  For
several years, Mr. Hounsfield was chairman of the Sheffield Water Company, and a
very highly respected and honoured townsman.

1871. Sir Arnold Thomas Knight.--The life of Sir Arnold T. Knight had in it many
touches of romance. It was ended on January 15th, 1871, death taking place at
Malvern.  The Independent said of him, that he would be remembered through his
kindliness of heart and goodness.  It was the same newspaper which declared that
the mainsprings of Sir Arnold's life were healing of the body, educating the
mind, and cultivating the taste. He was the youngest son of Alexander Knight of
Lincolnshire, and was born in 1789.  From the very start it was obvious that the
youngster was destined to something approaching greatness.  He was educated in
Edinburgh, and, according to a carefully examined newspaper obituary notice in
the local papers of that date, became Doctor of Medicine in 1811, at the early
age of twenty-two. The reasons why the young, brilliant scholar came to
Sheffield in 1814 are not made clear to us, but very soon he so roused the town
that he became at the head of everything that was going for the betterment of
those cultivated arts which mean so very much in life.  He was a member of the
Roman Catholic faith, was a gentleman of very great medical skill, and of
benevolence and great courtesy, liberal in his views, and who co-operated with
all the most prominent residents for Sheffield's proper development. He early
became physician to the Infirmary, and it was through his efforts that the
movement came for the establishment of the Sheffield Dispensary.   In 1822, he
joined James Montgomery, Samuel Bailey, Edward Smith and the Rev. H. H. Piper,
in forming the Literary and Philosophical Society, and was its first President. 
In 1828, he became interested in the Mechanics' Institute, and in the same year
took a very definite interest in local politics, then becoming chairman for Mr.
John Parker in his elections, and for many years afterwards he was leader of the
Liberal party in Sheffield until he left the town, temporarily, for a long tour
abroad and especially to Rome. In 1841, he received the honour of Knighthood,
the first Sheffield townsman to be honoured in that manner, though Sir John
Brown actually was the first Sheffield-born recipient of a Knighthood. What has
already been set out above shows very clearly how thoroughly Sir Arnold had
deserved his title, and indicates to some extent the quality of his brain.  To
have taken his degree as M.D. at such a University as Edinburgh when twenty-two,
speaks for itself, but when one also remembers that, when thirty-three, he was
moving with the most important of Sheffield's townsmen in promotion of the
Literary and Philosophical Society, it is possible to realize what an early
life-flower his was, and what an influence it must have had on a rather trivial
town. After his second visit to Rome, Sir Arnold left Sheffield, then going to
reside in Liverpool, and it was when a soiree was being held in his honour, just
prior to his departure, that one of the fiercest hail-storms ever known in
Sheffield occurred, damage to the extent of thousands of pounds being done and
virtually all the windows of the Music Hall in Surrey Street being broken. In
later life, Sir Arnold removed again, this time to The Park, Nottingham, where,
a generation later, Mr. Mundella resided for a time, and eventually Sir Arnold
took up his residence in Little Malvern and there died.

Thomas Dunn.-Mr. Thomas Dunn, by universal consent of his contemporaries, was
one of the very notable Sheffielders in his day, active in many directions, and
at his funeral at Handsworth, on January 11th, 1871, the attendance was
indicative of the respect in which he was held. There were then present Mr.
Mundella, Ald. Robert Leader, Mr. Jessop, Mr. Samuel Roberts, junr., Mr. T. W.
Rodgers, Mr. J. Jeffcock, Mr. Mark Firth, Mr. Wilson Mappin, Mr. George
Wostenholm and Mr. S. Hibbart (a very well known resident in Handsworth and then
living at Lamb Hill, whose family fortunes were largely mixed up with Mr. Alfred
Allott's enterprises).  Those were the most notable witnesses of the interment,
but also there were present over nine hundred miners from the "Birley Vale," the
" Birley Planting," and the Carbrook Collieries. Mr. Dunn was born in 1801, the
only son of Mr. Thomas Dunn, a table knife manufacturer in Solly Street, and an
original partner in the old Sheffield Coal Company, with Messrs. Hounsfield,
Wilson and Jeffcock. His grandfather was a table knife maker in Grindlegate, who
worked and lived on the tributaries of the Don.  One day, finding there was to
be a confirmation service at the Parish Church, he went there with his son, only
to find that he was too late, the service being over.  However, on enquiry, he
learned that the Archbishop at the close of the service had gone to the Rainbow
Inn in Hartshead for refreshment.  In those days, confirmation services were
very rare, so the anxious father took his son with him to the inn, and there met
the prelate, explained the position, and in the tavern the boy was confirmed by
the Archbishop of York. The father was more than a mere cutler, he was a natural
philosopher and the first in Sheffield to apply steam power for the working of
the cutlers' grindstone. Mr. Dunn was Master Cutler in 1832, then being very
largely concerned in colliery work and, like other owners, was often in conflict
with his men on the question of wages.  On one occasion, the employer reproached
his men for seeking a fifty per cent, increase in wages, whereupon the spokesman
replied that he was wrong, they had only asked "for a rise of twenty per cent." 
He was very active in the interests of the growing town, a Whig of the modern
school, and in 1843, when his cousin, Mr. W. Jeffcock, became Sheffield's first
Mayor, Mr. Dunn was chosen as Alderman for the Park, and in the year following
became Mayor.  He was generally regarded as the most fluent of all Sheffield's
speakers, playing a notable part in Sheffield's politics. He was educated at the
Grammar School, and in the early years of his manhood, applied himself to the
business of a coal owner, his father being a partner in the Sheffield Coal
Company.  But he had inclinations in other ways, and his fine debating power and
mental activity took him into the highest circles of Sheffield society.  He
himself would have preferred going to the Bar, but he kept on in trade, and
followed it with unsparing assiduity. At six o'clock in the morning he was
visiting the pits, spending five or six hours in the workings, and then being in
his office till evening. He paid wages, did the most trivial work of a clerk,
and subordinated his undoubtedly brilliant gifts in an extraordinary manner to
his father's business.  The lease of the Sheffield pits eventually ran out, but
he and his partners continued to work those of Earl Manvers at Birley Vale.  Mr.
Dunn first resided in Upperthorpe, then the home of many of Sheffield's
gentlefolk.

Thomas Asline Ward.-That Mr. Thomas Asline Ward must be included even in the
smallest list of Sheffield's great townsmen is apparent enough.  He lived in an
age when really serious thought was more general than it is to-day, and in the
very many movements towards progress which came about during the span of his
life (1781-1871), he was generally in the forefront.  He died at Park House,
November 26th, 1871, when ninety years old, the Sheffield Independent opening
its ample obituary notice with the words: " It is an unwelcome duty which falls
to us to-day."  He grew up amid the stress and strain of the Napoleonic wars,
and, in common with others of his age and generation, took a vivid interest in
militarism, becoming Lieutenant in 1803, in the Sheffield Regiment of Volunteer
Infantry.  That was a movement of a similar sort to those which arose in the
States, when the ranks were filled by members of the best-known families, and of
which, in an entrancing novel, Mr. Booth Tarkington has written.  He became
Captain in 1807, the Corps being disbanded a year later.

In 1806 he was Master Cutler, and from that date to the first Parliamentary
Election for Sheffield, was one of the most prominent of all Sheffield's
townsmen.  So well-esteemed did he become that in 1812 he was chosen, with Mr.
Thomas Leader, to go as town's deputation to voice Sheffield's protest against
the renewal of the Charter of the East India Company. In 1817, he was Overseer
of the Poor in Sheffield; from 1819 to 1828, President of the Town Library.  In
1810, he was on the Committee for the " better watching and lighting" of
Sheffield's streets, and in 1818, on the original Committee of the Gas Company. 
He was elected a Town Trustee in 1815; and in 1828 became Town Regent, holding
the office until 1847, being then succeeded by Mr. William Butcher.

For six years he was Vice-President of the Literary and Philosophical Society,
becoming President in his turn, and about that time, for a period of some years,
was Editor of the Sheffield Independent, a space of time before Mr. Robert
Leader took charge.  It is a tradition in the Independent office, that though
Mr. Ward was a voluminous writer, his "copy " always arrived at the office on
small bits of paper, apparently just what lay handy to him, so that it became
very necessary for the unhappy apprentice who had struggled through the setting
of that article, night after night to trudge away up to Park House, there to
secure the much-needed corrections and then trudge back again.

His greatest fame arose through the part he played in securing the passing of
the Reform Bill of 1832, and certainly during the years 1815 to 1830, he was the
foremost of Sheffield's townsmen.  In the year last named, he founded the
Sheffield Political Union, and, with the passing of the Bill just referred to,
stood as one of Sheffield's first candidates, but failed.  He filled a very
large place in Sheffield's history last century, and his diary was made
excellent use of by a former colleague of mine on the Sheffield Daily Telegraph,
Mr. Alex. B. Bell (now in Leeds), who produced from it a book full of genuine
interest to the lover of olden days.


1872. John Fowler.--Weaknesses of Sheffield's newspapers in the 'seventies were
demonstrated when Mr. John Fowler passed away on August 19th, 1872, and on which
date neither of the two local newspapers contained any reference to his death. 
As a matter of fact, it was five days later that the Telegraph published an
obituary notice which it stated had been supplied. The funeral took place at
Ecclesall, and Dr. Gatty spoke of Mr. Fowler as patriarch and priest of his
parish of Wadsley, the family having been associated for 200 years with
Wincobank. At the time of Mr. Fowler's death it was an entirely rural village,
and from a house there still standing at the time of his death, and remarkable
for a very ancient oak near the gates, "John, son of John Fowler of Wincobank,"
was taken to be baptized at Ecclesall Church, June, 1784. That was the John
Fowler whose death in 1872 is here spoken of. He married Elizabeth Swan in the
year of Waterloo. He was never much associated with the material interests of
the district, but he had a thorough acquaintance with the value and cultivation
of land, and on such subjects he was always consulted. He was a member of the
local Volunteer force which was raised when invasion by Napoleon was threatened.
In that band of 200 he was lieutenant and quartermaster, a tall, alert figure,
and he took part in the famous false alarm.  He left sons of the same high
breed, his namesake with a world-wide fame, William Fowler, of Whittington Hall,
possessing the same high qualities; Frederick Fowler, extremely well known;
Robert Fowler, a highly respected solicitor in London; Charles Fowler, who at
that time was in Australia, and Herbert Fowler, who alone died prior to his
sire, possessed of a very promising reputation as civil engineer.

John Holland.--Mr. John Holland died in December, 1872, and when his life by Mr.
Hudson was published, the Athaeneum newspaper wrote in quite the stately tone:
"Mr. Holland was a hard-working literary man and worthy of much respect.  His
scientific attainments were considerable, and if he was not a poet, his
verses--of which there was an enormous number-were marked by taste, and he did
much to promote culture in Sheffield. But we cannot think that his biographer
was wise in devoting 550 pages, when a short sketch was all that was called
for." William Hudson's life of John Holland was published in September, 1874. 
Holland was what may be termed a humble-minded poet, and it was Montgomery, his
friend and patron, who averred that his poems would be twice as good if they
were twice as short.  However, if much of what he wrote will not live, it is a
fact that his "Rainbow" was generally ascribed to Campbell, and the fact that he
was for almost all his youth a solitary individual may have had something to do
with his lack of breadth.  He was essentially a poet of nature, and in very much
of his work there was fragrance and charm.  His paternal ancestor was Vicar of
Sheffield, his tombstone in the Parish Churchyard bearing date August, 1597. His
parents lived in Sheffield Park, then a sufficiently charming district to bear
some comparison with its namesake in Sussex.  His father was a great lover of
news and gardening, and by trade an optical instrument maker.  The gifted son
was born in 1794, and when quite a young boy, and unaided, managed to acquire a
knowledge of Latin grammar even whilst assisting in his father's garret
workshop. So far as his poetry went, he graduated through the Lady's Magazine,
whilst he was teaching in Red Hill School, "a man slight in build, always
wearing silk stockings and breeches, with a Puritanical fashion in hair."
Gradually his writings appeared in the columns of the Sheffield Mercury, and in
1817 his friendship with Montgomery began and quickly ripened, with affection on
both sides.  Bit by bit he drifted from literature into journalism, and when the
Iris passed from James Montgomery to Blackwell, John Holland became its editor.
He was not fitted for the post, and publicly expressed his pleasure that his
editorial duties had ceased before the coming of the daily newspapers. Still, it
was whilst he was editing the Iris that he received from that stormy soul,
Ebenezer Elliott, a letter which ran as follows: " Dear Sir,--Yet while there is
time, do now those deeds on which you may reflect in satisfaction in the last
hour, when subterfuges avail not and timid, selfish expediency is a convicted
felon; when in this moment, when the balance is trembling into decision for weal
or woe, whom shall England expect to do their duty if not men of religious
principles?'' For all his expressed and obvious distaste of journalism, Holland
went with Blackwell to Newcastle to edit the Courant there, but he came back to
Sheffield in 1883, and was elected curator of the Literary and Philosophical
Society, with which he was connected for 40 years, and participated in that
famous debate respecting the exclusion of Ebenezer Elliott as a member. His
"Tour of the Don," well known as it is, remains an abiding proof of his ability.

Joseph Gillot.--Mr. Joseph Gillott, the great steel pen maker of Birmingham, was
born in Sheffield in October, 1799, and died in 1872.  His parents were very
poor, and his early years were spent in forging and grinding penknife blades. He
moved to Birmingham when 21, during a period of trade depression in Sheffield. 
There he accumulated a great fortune through his industry, was a great lover of
plants and flowers, collected precious stones as a hobby--his collection after
death producing £4,000-and was renowned as a munificent patron of art,
possessing the finest collection of Turner's paintings in private hands in
England. Two interesting stories are told of him, one concerning the young
German painter Muller, who annoyed his patron by accepting commissions and then
selling the finished pictures to others.  That annoyed Mr. Gillott so much that
he thrust on the market, as a forced sale without reserve, all Muller's
paintings that he had, the result being that "Mullers" became a drug in the
market. Mr. Gillott befriended him again later, until the artist died in 1845 at
the early age of 33 years.  At the sale of Mr. Gillott's collection Muller's
painting of "The Chess Players" realized £3,950. The other story concerned
Turner.  It is claimed that Joseph Gillott, not John Ruskin, discovered Turner's
genius, and once he went unknown to the artist's dingy quarters in Queen Anne
Street, in town, and was met by Turner at the door and refused entrance with the
remark: "I have nothing here you can afford to buy." With a persistence which
one likes to regard as characteristic of the Sheffielder, Gillott kept Turner in
conversation until he at last secured entrance to the studio.  Still Turner
refused to put a price on any of his canvases, repeating his initial taunt until
he was startled by Gillott suddenly asking, "What will you take for the lot?"
indicating the whole of the canvases in the room. Turner's response was
sufficiently high to frighten most men, but Gillott took out his pocket book,
produced the amount in Bank of England notes, and the transaction was completed,
the two becoming firm friends. That is the newspaper story of the incident, but
Mr. Sydney J. Robinson is good enough to supply the real facts.  These were that
when the great painter opened the door of his studio to Mr. Gillott, Turner,
with the door half open, asked what his visitor wanted.  "I want to exchange
pictures with you," said Mr. Gillott. "What kind of pictures?" said Turner.
"These," said the visitor, thrusting his hand forward filled with Bank of
England notes of a high denomination, whereupon Turner invited his visitor
forward, and before that visit ended a big "deal" had been arranged between the
two and friendship followed.  When Mr. Gillott's estate was wound up his
paintings alone, sold in Birmingham, realized £180,000.

1873. Henry Wilkinson.--Mr. Henry Wilkinson, one of Sheffield's Town Collectors,
was 85 years old when he died in February, 1873. He was born at Norton Hammer,
which one hundred years ago was one of the principal forges in the town, and
began silver plating with Messrs. Settle, then in Norfolk Street, living in  one
of the large and roomy houses which stood on the site of the new music hall in
Barker's Pool.  Eventually Settle's business was transferred to him, and was
still being carried on there until the time of his death.  Also he had a
business association with Joseph Rodgers & Sons. At the incorporation of the
town he became first Mayor, and in later years built Endcliffe Hall, selling it
eventually to Sir John Brown, and after the sale went to Endcliffe Edge. He was
Town Trustee as well as Town Collector, and was generally known as Town Regent.

Rev. Canon Sale.--The death of the Rev. Canon Sale, Vicar of Sheffield, occurred
shortly after midnight on September 20th, 1873, and created a great sorrow in
the town over which his rule as Vicar had been wholly successful, helped by a
personality of the utmost charm.  Death had come so unexpectedly that an inquest
was deemed necessary, the verdict being death from natural causes.  Prior to his
appointment to Sheffield as Vicar, he was for over twenty years perpetual Curate
of Southgate in the Edmonton district of London; he was an accomplished scholar
and Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. His appointment to Sheffield, following
shortly on the death of a vigorous and well-liked Vicar in Dr. Sutton, in 1851,
came at a critical time in the history of the town, which was a parish
exceedingly difficult to work. However, Dr. Sale threw himself with the utmost
vigour into the work, and quite early showed a broadmindedness which brought to
his aid the most responsible of the Nonconformist Ministers in the town. 
Sheffield very rapidly became aware of the new Vicar's worth. One result was
that when, in 1856, a town's testimonial was raised to enable him to proceed to
the degree of D.D. at his University, a sum of £116 was realized; no small
tribute in those far off days.  Very soon after his appointment, the Archbishop
of York made him Rural Dean of Sheffield, whilst as Vicar of the town he had in
his hands the presentation to S. George's Church, S. Philip's, S. Mary's, S.
Paul's, Christ Church, Attercliffe, S. James's, Ecclesall, and Heeley.   He
showed a marked enthusiasm in the Church Extension movement which produced five
new churches in the town, and towards which fund he gave a personal gift of
£500. He also showed great eagerness in the erection of new schools in the town
for week-day education, and it was very largely through his efforts that those
in Carver Street were built, with accommodation for five hundred children.  The
Church Institute came into being very largely through him, and before the Rev.
J. E. Blakeney went to S. Paul's, the Canon cleared off a debt of £1,200 which
encumbered the work there; also erected a schoolroom at his own cost for S.
Silas's, and there placed a Curate. Of the early vicars of the town, he surely
remains in memory as a great friend of the working classes. When he died, it was
written of Canon Sale, "that to the end his step was as light and as quick as in
youth: his figure and bearing untouched by years:  and  his smile  still showing
the sunshine of his mind."

Roger Brown..--Mr. Roger Brown, uncle of Sir John Brown, who was a famous man in
Sheffield when he was quite young, lived in an age when books were extremely
scarce and dear, but showed great zest in study and became a remarkably
well-read and well-informed man, and very fond of scientific research.  He began
his experiments on the steam engine fifty years prior to his death, and,
following that, devoted himself to improving the magnet, many of his
improvements in this direction being sent to the great silver mines of Mexico.
Through his study of electricity, he became justly famous in the district, and
his house was always crowded when he invited his friends to witness
demonstrations of his discoveries.  Hydrostatics, pneumatics and astronomy also
found places in his scheme of self culture, and his magnetic lightning conductor
came into very general use about that period.  He died in 1873.

1874. William Swift.--Mr. William Swift, one of Sheffield's early antiquarians,
was seventy-four years old when he died in December, 1874.  He came to Sheffield
from Chesterfield when eighteen years old, going to the office of Mr. J. Brown
the solicitor, but very soon he found a more congenial home in the Stamp Office,
where he remained to the end.  His investigations throughout South Yorkshire
covered his life-time, and he and Mr. John Holland placed the results before
Sheffield Societies repeatedly. He died at Ash Cottage, Staveley, when
fifty-five years of age, having been for twenty-seven years chief clerk in the
Stamp Office.  It was said that no one knew as much of the Hundred of Scarsdale
or of South Yorkshire as he. He revealed a marvellous industry as genealogical
and topographical collector, was fond of poring over old MSS., old registers,
and so on, and was the "Old  Mortality" of Sheffield.    He mastered  Latin and 
Norman French to enable him to deal with medieval documents, and was the oracle
to which all local questions were addressed, but he had not the gift of writing.
 Of him, Dr. Gatty wrote a very eloquent tribute at the time of his death in his
preface to the new edition of Hunter's Hallamshire.


John Spencer.-Mr. John Spencer died at Masbro' Cottage in 1874, and in his
eighty-four years of life had built up a useful record of town service. A file
maker who retained the old dress to the end, knee breeches, shoes and stockings,
and always speaking the broadest "Sheffield;" he was author of many quaint
sayings. His works were in Pea Croft, and his early enterprise had much to do
with his success. When the great Napoleonic wars ended, he found orders at a
standstill, and so, before 1820, ventured on a personal journey to France.  It
was a journey not unaccompanied by perils, but he found customers, and for half
a century afterwards was enthusiastic in regard to all schemes for increased
travelling facilities.  He had much to do with the formation of the Humber Steam
Ship Company, which on two days a week sent boats as far as Thorne, thence
transhipping the cargoes to Hull and London. When he was Master Cutler--the town
then having no Mayor--he did everything possible to secure a place for Sheffield
on the main line of the Midland, which was then being made.  However, the effort
failed so far as Sheffield was concerned, though to Mr. Spencer went much of the
credit for initiation of the Sheffield and Manchester (M. S. & L.) line.  That
came about through an agreement between Mr. Spencer, Mr. Edward Smith, Mr. T.
Asline Ward and Mr. Deakin, that if the Manchester manufacturers would join in,
such a line should be made.

Robert Younge.--Essentially a self-made man, Mr. Robert Younge died at his home
at Greystones in 1874, aged seventy-three.  His family went back two centuries
in Sheffield's life.  He was first engaged in business as a silver-plater with
his brother who lived at the top of Charles Street, but afterwards joined the
firm of Younge, Kitchen & Walker, other members of the family being associated
with Rimington & Younge's Bank, afterwards the Sheffield and Retford Bank.  He
had a great knowledge of chemistry which became of considerable value to him,
and he filled many high places in local life. He was a Juror on Sheffield plated
goods at the Great Exhibition of 1851, and a very far seeing man.  That was
shown by the way in which he speculated in land in and around the town, for he
owned some of the finest tracts in the suburbs-land sure to claim a greatly
enhanced value in years to come.   In later life, he was associated with a
flourishing wine and spirit business in the Haymarket, and also helped to found
the Literary and Philosophical Society.  In all things he was very charitable
and was a prominent supporter of the School of Art. Further than that, few men
took a deeper interest in the building of the new Workhouse of the Sheffield
Guardians.  Yet another side of his character may be revealed in the fact that
he owned one of the finest collections of engravings to be found in Yorkshire.

1875. Alfred Stevens.--The Times obituary notice of Mr. Alfred Stevens, appeared
on May 2nd, 1875, and with due acknowledgments was copied into the Sheffield
Telegraph, and the appreciation was a very handsome one of a truly great artist.
He was born at Blandford in 1817, and died at Haverstock Hill in 1875.  When he
was sixteen years old Stevens visited Italy, studying in Florence and Rome, and
in those famous cities found a splendid atmosphere.   In painting, sculpture and
architecture the young man surprised those around him by his brilliant
conceptions and his equally brilliant reproductions.  Thorwaldsen, who quickly
discovered Stevens' abundant genius, gave him many orders. In 1826, Stevens was
back in England, doing admirable decorative works, adding to his other
activities work in metal, and in this particular period he secured lasting fame
through the decorative scheme which he introduced into Dorchester House, Park
Lane, the commission for which was given to the young artist by the owner, Mr.
Holford. He was also associated with the famous Cockerill in many architectural
works in town, but his name very seldom appeared in exhibition catalogues.

It did not appear in the catalogue of the Great Exhibition of 1851, but he was
then doing extraordinary work in designing and in metal work. Certainly, said
The Times, he made the fame and fortunes of many manufacturers who carried his
designs through.  In 1850, he was induced to take up his residence in Sheffield
and his influence there became so great on the then Head Master, Mr. Young
Mitchell, and on the students, that the Sheffield School became the finest and
most successful in the kingdom. In the school he co-operated largely with
Godfrey Sykes, but there had then come over Stevens, said The Times, a sense
which startled all his friends.   He began  manifesting a complete 
impractibility, he destroyed model after model, and would tear up sketch after
sketch, which those who copied him would have been proud to retrieve. In that
period, unless work was actually dragged from him, it was not proceeded with. 
He did, however, achieve very definite greatness, he executed what was described
as a noble and vigorous design for the Exhibitor's Certificate in the Exhibition
of 1862. His greatest work, however, was the Wellington Monument in S. Paul's
Cathedral, and The Times added that, at the time of his death, he had
practically completed that superb conception, so far indeed, that any one of his
pupils could finish it, and it also added that the two groups of that great
monument, "Truth plucking out the tongue of falsehood," and "Valeur triumphing
over cowardice," on which Stevens had concentrated, had secured for him lasting
fame amongst decorative artists of modern times. Stevens was only fifty-seven
years old when he died, and was unmarried. In March, 1910, Mr. Charles Green
lectured on the work of Alfred Stevens, pointing out the admirable collection to
be seen at Messrs. Hooles'  Green Lane Works, and also in the School of Art
Museum.  Then Mr. Benjamin Bagshawe had in his office many of Stevens's
drawings, and Mr. Mitchell Withers, a very fine bronze stove and fender executed
by the same artist. Mr. Green also declared that Alderman Gamble of Sheffield,
many years prior to the death of Stevens, asked him to sell the original
painting of Isaiah, from which the grand mosaic was made which now adorns S.
Paul's Cathedral.  It had been offered to Sheffield before then, and also to the
Sheffield School of Art for one hundred pounds, but the officials declared that
it was not worth half the sum, whilst an official in the Town Hall expressed the
opinion that "I wouldn't give a button off my breeches for it." That original
painting now hangs in the Tate Gallery in the Central Gallery of the Sculpture
Room, and is valued at £3,000.  So much for Sheffield and its love of art!
Alfred Stevens came to Sheffield in 1850 to Green Lane, the works of Messrs.
Hoole & Company, and there proved beyond question that he was the only man to
combine arts and crafts, though many people talked of being able to do so. The
Wellington monument, of course, stood out as his masterpiece, but the fatal
procrastinations which burdened him all his life almost caused the magnificent
conception to be lost to the nation.  He only sent his model in for competition
on the last day, and suddenly woke up to the knowledge that it was Bank Holiday
and that he could not get a van anywhere for his exhibit.  However, stirred out
of himself by the suddenness of the crisis, he procured a vehicle of some sort,
and the precious model was deposited safely within three minutes of closing time
for competitors.

Sir William Sterndale Bennett.--The death of Sir William Sterndale Bennett
occurred on February 1st, 1875, at his home, 66 St. John's Wood Road, London. 
Following on his removal from Sheffield, he was a King's College Chorister at
Cambridge when eight years old, and then a pupil at the Royal Academy, there
having tuition from such masters as Cipriani, Potter, Dr. Crotch, Moscheles, and
Holmes.  He was a constant performer on the pianoforte at the Philharmonic
Concerts, and when he travelled across to Leipzic on the direct invitation of
Mendelssohn, his "Naiads" and "Wood Nymphs" were performed at the concerts in
the city. In a paper on his contemporaries, Schumann wrote of Sterndale Bennett,
"Out of the chrysalis a truly wonderful butterfly has emerged, a soaring spirit,
and like his greatest predecessors, Mozart and Mendelssohn, is residing at
Leipzic.  He shows a strong family likeness in his work to his great friend,
Mendelssohn; there is the same beauty of form, the same poetic depth and
clearness, ideal purity and divine power of impressing, yet there is a
distinction between the two, one which is even more evident in playing than in
composition. The Englishman revels in delicacy and finished detail,  whereas
Mendelssohn is at his best in energy and grasp." Sir William's published works
best known were his "Naiads," "Wood Nymphs," "Parisina," "Merry Wives of
Windsor," with concertos, sonatas, songs and duets innumerable; he composed his
"Paradise and Peri," a fantasia overture for the Jubilee Concert of the
Philharmonic Society, and his cantata, "The Woman of Samaria," later.  When he
returned to this country, he quickly took the first place alike as composer,
performer and teacher; in 1856, he succeeded Walmsley as Professor of Music at
Cambridge, having then taken the degree of Doctor of Music, and in the same year
he succeeded Wagner as conductor of the Philharmonic Concerts in London.

He was conductor of the first Musical Festival in Leeds in 1858, his cantata,
"The May Queen," then being first produced, and when the great 1862 Exhibition
was opened, he was invited, together with Auber, Meyerbeer and Verdi, to compose
fitting pieces of music. Sterndale Bennett's was the setting to music of
Tennyson's Ode, "Uplift! a thousand voices."  For several years he was Principal
of the Royal Academy of Music, and his great fight on its behalf preserved that
institution for the nation at a time when it had many enemies, whilst he was
knighted at Windsor in 1871. Not many Sheffielders have been buried in
Westminster Abbey, but it was felt that the remains of such a master in music
had a right to rest there, and on February 6th, 1875, his body was laid in the
north aisle of that glorious Pantheon near the graves of Purcell and Croft, an
"immense congregation" being present.  The respect in which the great composer
was held was shown by the fact that in the procession were the private carriages
of the Queen, the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of Edinburgh, whilst amongst
those actually attending were Lord Dudley, the Bishop of Gloucester and the
Bishop of Bristol, Sir Julian Benedict, Mr. Salomons, Mr. Arthur Sullivan, Mr.
Dan Godfrey, and Mr. Boosey, whilst the service was conducted by Dean Stanley.
In the present day one can well imagine that, simultaneous with the ceremony in
the Abbey, a service would have been held in our Parish Church, but no
indication of anything of the sort is to be found in the local newspapers of
that date. Dr. Coward, lecturing on Sterndale Bennett on February 2nd, 1904,
said his election as President of the Royal Academy of Music was his death knell
as a composer, and for that reason a very great and national loss.  At
twenty-one years of age, he possessed a national reputation with his twenty
compositions, and he should not have been placed in such a position where
routine work was demanded of him.  In this country, however, Dr. Coward
declared, there is an all too great a habit of making our Michael Angelos cut
kerbstones and our Michael Faradays do mechanical labour.  There was, in his
opinion, no composer who was so uniformly high-minded in his compositions as
Sterndale Bennett, and it was in his judgment very due to his memory that a
Sterndale Bennett Chair of Music should be established in the Sheffield
University. Sheffield learned much of Sterndale Bennett in December, 1907, when
the life of that great composer was published by his son.  Many who read it were
startled, not realizing that their own townsman was really one of the great ones
in music. He was, in his youth, one of the original students at the Royal
Academy of Music in 1826--at that time a boarding school--and very quickly his
fame as a pianist so far spread that he was commanded to Windsor, and there,
playing before the Court, received the warm encouragement of Queen Adelaide. A
great stimulus was given to Sterndale Bennett by his friendship with
Mendelssohn, one rather pleasantly begun.  The brilliant pianist, when only
seventeen years old in 1833, was playing his Concerto in B minor, at the Hanover
Square Rooms, and by the side of the Ambassador, Lord Burgersh, sat a young
foreigner who stood up at the finish, declaring his desire to "have a good look
at him," and then, at his own request, being taken to the green-room and there
introduced to the executant. From that moment there came a very firm friendship
between this young foreigner, Mendelssohn, and Sterndale Bennett, the latter
finding great encouragement and stimulus from it; a long and charmingly
continued correspondence ensued between them, and Sterndale Bennett went to
Germany to secure an instant appreciation. It was in the London green-room that
that part of his life was decided on, for Mendellssohn urged his new friend to
visit Germany.  "If I do so, may I come as your pupil?" was the enquiry.  "No!
as my friend," was the answer.  Schumann was enthusiastic over Sterndale
Bennett's abilities and his extraordinary skill as a pianist, placing him next
to Mendelssohn, "bringing to us the beauty of Bach and rescuing the Royal
Academy from oblivion."

1876. George Wostenholm.--One of the hardest-headed business men in Sheffield
was George Wostenholm, who died in August, 1876, at the age of seventy-five.  He
was scarcely a public man, but had a flair for business, which made him Master
Cutler of Sheffield, and gave him great prosperity. He was Master Cutler in
1856, succeeding Mr. Frederick Thorpe Mappin in the position, and was "son of
his father" as a cutlery manufacturer.  The father's business was carried on in
Broad Lane whence it was moved to Rockingham Street, at which point in the
family fortunes the son, George, was taken in as partner, together with Mr.
William Stenton (then buyer for Naylor & Sanderson's), the business being
carried on as Stenton & Wostenholm. Stenton's share in a wonderful prosperity
came through his systematic travelling in the States, opening up a great
connexion there, and on returning to England, leaving the firm with which he had
been identified. The younger partner thereupon took matters into his own hands,
and, crossing the Atlantic, consolidated the work done by Stenton. established
many agencies, and pushed well out into the far west.  On the death of his
father, the business was again George Wostenholm & Son. In ten hard years, the
business grew all too quickly for the premises in Rockingham Street, and the
Washington Works in Wellington Street were taken, having formerly been in the
possession of  Oakes, Tompkin & Company.  It was a definite indication of
change.  In previous generations, cutlery works in Sheffield had been virtually
unknown, save those of very small character; the town had been hemmed round by
the factories owned and run by "little mesters," but it was the American zeal
for big things which inspired the acquisition of the big place in Wellington
Street.  When it was built, it was regarded as an unnecessary extravagance, and
Sheffielders of smaller vision wagged their heads solemnly and waited for the
crash-which never came. The business was turned into a Limited Company in 1875,
the capital being fixed at £100,000, with shares of £25, and with a dividend of
ten per cent, guaranteed for the ensuing five years; the allotment of shares
being almost entirely to members of the staff and the workmen.  It was reported
that by 1878, the firm had an American connexion in spring cutlery far larger
than any other English concern. George Wostenholm was spoken of when he died as
the pioneer of Ranmoor, but was, even to a greater degree, the maker of Sharrow
and Netheredge, and his co-operation in this way with Thomas Steade was
responsible for the development of many of Sheffield's suburbs.

Thomas Youdan.--To most people, Mr. Thomas Youdan remains as a memory associated
with the old Alexandra Theatre, but really he was very much more than that. He
died in 1876 when sixty years old, and had lived a remarkably busy life. He was
born at Streetthorpe, Doncaster, and came to Sheffield when eighteen years old,
with no better outlook on life than that of a general labourer, which was his
occupation, and certainly he was architect of his own fortunes.  He began
working at Cornish Place; later he became what was known as a silver stamper,
and later still, a "boniface," taking over a public-house in the Park and then a
similar establishment in West Bar, known as "The Spink's Nest."  He had made
money by that time, acquiring the freehold of the tavern, and round about it,
built the Surrey Theatre.    It was a building noted all through the country for
its general completeness; it possessed a spacious ball-room, a theatre, a
concert hall, a museum and a menagerie, most of the animals being secured from
Wingerworth Hall, where the Hon. W. Hunloke had, as hobby, the gathering
together of wild beasts. Tragedy came to a deserving man on the morning of March
25th, 1865, when the theatre was burned to the ground, destined never to be
rebuilt, and the present Sheffield Union Offices stand practically on the site. 
Youdan lost over £30,000 through the fire.  However, great though the disaster
was, he was not beaten. He had always been looking round for possibilities, and
had acquired on lease, for storage purposes, a very large building in Blonk
Street, and this he renovated and enlarged until there arose what, in future
years, was known as the Alexandra Theatre.  Actually he bought the site, and got
a theatrical license, and the new theatre was opened under the patronage of Lord
Brougham, then attending the meetings of the Social Science Congress in
Sheffield.

1877. Samuel Younge.--In 1877, when seventy-eight years old, Mr. Samuel Younge
died, one of the best known solicitors in the town, a Nottingham man who had
settled in Sheffield in partnership with Mr. James Wilson, as Wilson & Younge,
the firm afterwards taking the title of Younge, Wilson & Pierson, later still
becoming Youngs, Wilson & Nixon, and, in the last few years before Mr. Younge's
death, Younge, Wilson, Nixon & Hughes.  The subject of this story of a
well-known firm joined it in 1825, being the eldest son of Mr. Samuel Younge,
senior partner in the firm of Messrs. Samuel and Charles Younge, Union Street
and Burgess Street, dealing in silver and plated goods.  His brothers were
well-known residents in the town, in Mr. Robert Younge of Greystones, and Mr.
Charles Younge; whilst his only sister was married to Mr. Richard Charles Otter,
who became a considerable owner of land in later years.  Mr. Samuel Younge, here
spoken of, first resided in East Parade, and afterwards at Gatefield, then out
in the country, Abbeydale way; and on his father's death, removed to Brincliffe.
 He was one of the first Improvement Commissioners in Sheffield.

1878. John Jobson Smith.--Mr. John Jobson Smith died at Grange Cliffe,
Ecclesall, in 1878, when sixty-nine years old.  Born at Alnwick, not very far
away from what was for ages regarded as the jumping off ground for young Scotch
laddies in their search for the Saxons' money, Mr. Smith, like the members of
the army just referred to, came south to make his fortune. He had, however, a
definite purpose; he had an uncle in Sheffield, and it was to him that he went. 
Robert Jobson, the uncle referred to, had a flourishing business in Roscoe
Place, practically facing S. Philip's Church, and the young nephew, showing
himself "painstaking, eager, intelligent and pious," was entrusted with the
duties of travelling for orders. In due time, Mr. Robert Jobson passed away,
leaving the whole business to his nephew, who made the most of it and extended
it greatly.   He took into it a partner in Mr. Stuart, the title of the firm
then becoming Stuart and Smith, and the latter manifesting a great love of art,
the very thing essential to the future success of the business, which at that
time had more than one eager rival.  Mr. Smith was something of a specialist in
statuary, and employed a workman named Bell, to design the monument which stands
to-day close to the top gates in the General Cemetery, in memory of James
Montgomery; the original model was presented by Mr. Smith to the Cutlers'
Company, and it stands to-day in the vestibule to the Banqueting Hall. An
introduction of art into stove-grate work secured for the firm a greatly
increased business, and in many parts of Sheffield, notably in the residences
along the Hallam slopes and the Ranmoor district, one finds singularly artistic
and beautiful work of this character, a good deal of it dating back to the
golden days of Roscoe Place.  Mr. Smith was enthusiastic in his support of the
School of Art when it was instituted.

1879. Charles Cammell.--Mr. Charles Cammell, of Norton Hall and Brookfield
Manor, died at the former residence on January 13th, 1879, when sixty-nine years
old.  He was born at Hull, coming to Sheffield when twenty-one, and joining the
firm of Ibbotson Brothers of the Globe Works, Penistone Road. It was at that
time one of the leading firms in the town for steel, files and cutlery.  When he
reached Sheffield, young Cammell's total wealth was comprised within the compass
of a five pound note, but he quickly made good.  He acted as traveller for
Ibbotson Brothers for many years, showing great industry and a fine persistence
in his work, but during the great commercial crisis of 1837, he left that
employment, and, with Mr. Thomas Johnson, began business under the style of
Johnson, Cammell & Company, in Furnival Street, as steel manufacturers and
makers of files. In 1845, the business had extended to such an extent that it
was found essential larger premises should be secured, and land was acquired in
Savile Street, where were then only a few houses east of the Sheffield Station
in the Wicker, and scarcely anything save green fields.  There, the foundations
of new works were laid in May, 1845, the land comprising two acres, and straight
away the business prospered there and grew side by side with the growth of the
railways, just reaching the end of the great boom. In 1852, Mr. Johnson died,
and Mr. Edward Bury joined Mr. Cammell, with knowledge acquired through his
position as locomotive engineer on the London and Birmingham line. He retired in
1855, when the firm of Charles Cammell & Company was formed. In 1861, the
manufacture of rails was begun at Cyclops works; in 1863, that of armour plates,
and these changes involved great extensions towards Grimesthorpe.  In 1864, the
concern was turned into a Limited Company, with Mr. Cammell as chairman, the
capital being one million pounds, with £800,000 paid up.  The iron and steel
works at Penistone were secured in 1865; the Oaks collieries in 1873; and at the
time of Mr. Cammell's death, it was said that the Savile Street premises
occupied eleven acres; Penistone, twenty-five; Grimesthorpe, twenty-one, and the
Oaks, eleven hundred.  At that time, Mr. George Wilson had been Mr. Cammell's
right hand man for a generation.  Mr. Cammell, who had six sons, lived in 1845
at the house in Clarkehouse Road, adjoining the Botanical Gardens, and later
occupied by Mrs. Osborn, with Mr. Joseph Nicholson succeeding Mr. Cammell.  In
later years, Mr. Cammell lived at Loxley House, afterwards occupied by Mr.
Miller, and in 1857 he purchased from the assignees of S. Shore, the Manor of
Norton, taking advantage of every opportunity that presented itself afterwards
to purchase land in the neighbourhood.  He also owned a Hampshire estate of two
thousand acres at Ditchingham.


1880. Thomas Moore.--Alderman Thomas Moore's life story is one of sustained
interest.   For four successive years he was Mayor of Sheffield at a time when a
great deal of Sheffield's municipal history was being made, and during his
sojourn here, scarcely anything occurred but found him at the heart of it.  He
was born at Howden in East Yorkshire in February, 1809, and through sustained
perseverance claimed many academic joys. He was 38 years old when, even then a
wealthy man, he came to Sheffield, taking charge of the Exchange Brewery, though
at that time he had no knowledge of the industry, and was simply a man with
plenty of money looking out for something wherein to use it.  The Exchange
Brewery at that time was in low water, but high intelligence and, above all,
industry saw the new management succeed, the balance being brought on to the
right side.  The Brewery then was in what we know to-day as the Market Place
under the name of Proctor & Co., being acquired by the Tennant family in 1840. 
In 1853 came a sudden upheaval, the Duke's agents issuing what was known as a
bill of ejectment. The old brewery then was held on a lease from the Duke, and
he had powers under Parliament to take it with other property for the erection
of the proposed markets.  However, as the lease to the brewery had only a short
time to run, the Duke's agents decided to leave the Company in possession until
the lease had expired so that payment for compensation might be avoided. By
that, of course, the Company would lose everything that had been spent on new
buildings and general improvements, and also be hampered by having to remain in
premises which could not be maintained on long tenure.  So Mr. Thomas Moore
acted, and frustrated the ducal proposals.  He informed the Duke's agents that
his firm proposed compelling the Duke under the provisions of his Act of
Parliament to take possession at once. The Duke resisted the suggestion,
resorting to the Court of Chancery from time to time, but without success, and
eventually the Duke, acting on an old and almost forgotten statute, sought the
ejectment of the company as trespassers. Action was taken before Lord
Chief-Justice Campbell at York, the Duke's agents withdrew and compromise was
arrived at, the Duke paying £3,000 compensation to the firm, plus a period of
four months in which to remove its business. What a search through the Acts
there must have been in such a struggle as is here indicated.  The four months
allowed gave little time for transfer of the business; but a site was found by
the banks of the Don, the new buildings erected well within the period
stipulated, and, as the reports said, "never a brewing was lost." Alderman
Moore's services to Sheffield were very great--he stood out as one of the
townsmen who had a real vision and who was unafraid to carry his schemes into
execution, through fierce opposition often enough, in the Council.  His great
disappointment came owing to his inability to carry through the Council his plea
for the town's control of the gas and water undertakings.  Alderman in 1873, he
was proposed as Mayor in the same year by Mr. Thomas Jessop, and during his
mayoralty he put all his strength into a successful effort to prevent Wakefield
obtaining Langsett for its water, the result being that Sheffield got it.  He
lived in several well-known Sheffield houses in those days, notably at Park
Farm, at Harbour House, Sharrow Head, and at Crabtree, where he died.  His
grandfather, on his mother's side, carried on business at the old works in
Whiteley Wood.  Alderman Moore died in 1880.

Mark Firth.--The local newspapers were black bordered on November 29th, 1880, in
memory of Mr. Mark Firth, who had passed away the previous night at Oakbrook,
and the tributes paid were worthy of a great citizen.  He was taken suddenly ill
at his works on the 16th and removed to Oakbrook, where he received every
possible attention.  He was attended by Sir William Jenner, Dr. Bartolome, Dr.
Favell and Dr. Dyson; but the original seizure had been a stroke, and there was
but little chance of recovery.  A telegram of sorrow was received by Mrs. Firth
from the Prince of Wales at Horstead Hall, from every class in Sheffield came
sympathy, and the whole town was overtaken by a genuine sorrow at the death of
its greatest citizen. He was Sheffield born (in 1819), and was the eldest of
five sons, all educated at Eadon's School in Redhill.  His father was a
steel-maker at Marshall's, one of the earliest firms in the trade in the town,
and then went to Sanderson's, having a very intimate knowledge of steel-making.
Later, the father and son left Sanderson's and commenced business for
themselves, and for several years the two lived in Charlotte Street near their
humble works.  Then the son took Stanton Broom, afterwards lived in Wilkinson
Street, and subsequently went to Endcliffe somewhere about 1860, and became a
pioneer of Ranmoor, purchasing 26 and a half acres of land on which he built his
mansion of Oakbrook. In 1860 he was returned to the Town Council as
representative of St. Peter's Ward, straightway showing a keen interest in all
matters connected with the sanitation of the town.  He lost his seat for St.
Peter's, but when Alderman Hallam's term of office as Mayor ended in 1874 the
Council did an unprecedented thing, calling Mr. Firth back to the Chamber,
straightway  electing him an Alderman, and at the same time electing him Mayor
of the Borough. It was at the March meeting in the following year that he
announced the consent of the Prince and Princess of Wales to visit Sheffield in
August, and it was on July 8th that he wrote his letter presenting to the town
35 acres of the Page Hall Estate as a public free park to the inhabitants of
Sheffield for ever.  Mr. Firth was Master-Cutler of the town for three
successive years and was a member of the Town Trust, whilst amongst his many
benefactions were the Almshouses at a cost of £30,000 and the Firth College. He
was also greatly attracted by education matters in the town, and originally
intended to erect the College in Bow Street, on the right-hand side where he had
been employed in his early life; but it was proposed to him that, as the School
Board Offices were being built in the new thoroughfare of Leopold Street, his
College might stand at the corner and make the whole into a massive pile.  So
land was bought there for £8,000, and in due course the College was opened by
Prince Leopold. A publication called "Eminent Manufacturers" wrote of Mark Firth
as follows:  " From small beginnings in Charlotte Street he passed on to the
immense establishment of the Norfolk Works in Savile Street, covering 15 acres,
in 1849.   His works were at one time open to everybody who came; but
sharp-witted foreigners took notes and made use of what they saw, so that other
methods were subsequently adopted for protection of the secrets which made the
greatness of the firm.  It was as gun makers that the firm became best known
throughout the world, celebrated as it was in many other ways."  Mr. Mark Firth
was asked to stand for Parliament on the retirement of Mr. Roebuck, but
declined, though it is fairly certain that he would have been returned with ease
had his wishes gone towards a Parliamentary career.

THE ROYAL VISIT, 1875. The greatest event in the life of Mr. Mark Firth was the
Royal visit of 1875, and the first indication of its likelihood was given when
he proposed that an invitation under the Corporate Common Seal should be sent to
Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales to visit Sheffield
during that year.  He said he was even then in possession of the knowledge that
an invitation would be accepted, but such an honour to the town should not be
through any personal or individual invitation, but from the town as represented
by the Council. He believed that such a visit would be possible in August. The
resolution was carried with acclamation, no time was lost in forwarding the
invitation, and, whilst the meeting of the Council was held on February 10th,
the Royal letter of acceptance bore date February 11th. It was signed "Francis
Knollys," and ran as follows:  " I have had the honour of laying before Their
Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales the address which you have
forwarded to me on behalf of the Aldermen and Burgesses of the town of
Sheffield, and I am commanded by Their Royal Highnesses to inform you that it
will afford them great satisfaction to accept the invitation they have received
to visit Sheffield in the course of the ensuing season." The letter was
addressed "The Worshipful the Mayor." Subscriptions poured in towards the cost
of the visit and the decoration of the town, especially of the proposed route to
the new park well beyond the Pitsmoor toll bar.  By July it was announced that
£140 had been promised for the Wicker section, £1,400 for the Fulwood and
Broomhill section, for West Street £140, and for Burngreave and Pitsmoor £530.
The visit took place on August 16th and 17th, 1875. The Royal train left King's
Cross at 11 in the morning on August 16th, the suite consisting of the Marquis
of Hamilton, the Right Honourable Sir W. T. Knollys (Comptroller), Major Russell
(Equerry), Mr. Sumner and Miss Knollys. A forty minutes wait occurred in the
Sheffield station before the procession moved away, a battery of guns near S.
John's Church in the Park acquainting the crowds that the visitors had arrived.
The route was down Blonk Street, into the Wicker, where, beyond the arches, was
a magnificent spectacle, the steepness of the Burngreave vista being packed with
cheering humanity.  The heat of the sun was almost unbearable, the crowds were
tightly wedged, yet the enthusiasm was tremendous, and so the 37 carriages, with
their accompanying escorts of soldiers, passed up through the Bar and on down
the slope of Barnsley Road, then thickly lined by splendid trees, to the park.
There, in their robes, were assembled the members of the Town Council, and the
address of the Corporation was then presented by the Mayor and the Town Clerk
(Mr. John Yeomans), with whom was Alderman Fairburn, and in reply the Prince
said he could not but be interested in the present and future welfare of
Sheffield through its reputation so long borne throughout the world for its
peculiar manufactures which had given to the town its wealth, and a prosperity
and success to the great commercial Empire of which it formed a part. The
address of the Cutlers' Company of Hallamshire was presented by the
Master-Cutler (Alderman Edward Tozer) and the Vicar (the Rev. Rowley Hill), with
Mr. Macro Wilson (Law Clerk) and the Wardens.

For many weeks before the great days the inhabitants of the town had been busy
in preparations of many kinds, and, as the Royal visitors saw it, Sheffield  was
a place transformed.   Arches stood up in almost every thoroughfare through
which the procession passed.  Some of the arches remain vividly in one's
recollection, such as the Scottish Arch in Glossop Road and the representation
of an ancient gateway at Lady's Bridge. As the Royal Visitors saw the East End,
the blackness stood out all the more violently because of the surrounding colour
schemes, whilst everywhere in the district stood "women with their working
husbands--the wives with handkerchiefs of cotton loosely bound around their
heads,--all unrestrained by barricades, and a scene full of vividly expressed
loyalty." The visitors went to the works of Messrs. Cammells', Firths', and John
Brown's, and also to Messrs. Joseph Rodgers & Sons' in Norfolk Street. They
could not very well buy an armour-plate or a casting in the East End, but they
proved ready purchasers in Rodgers' showrooms, examining the very many costly
and lovely articles with great interest. This visit was paid very shortly before
the greater one to India, and the firm presented to the Prince a case of
articles suitable for the visit, whilst to the Princess was given a lady's case
of cutlery of the finest possible workmanship, with handles of solid gold and
silver. All the Banking establishments in the town were closed at noon that day,
and practically everywhere else a general holiday was taken, if not granted, for
this was no small occasion for Sheffielders.  The part played in the programme
by children was a notable one, and on the evening prior to the great day a
rehearsal was held in Paradise Square under the conductorship of Mr.
Charlesworth, whilst a prime feature of the proceedings in Page Hall Park was
the singing of the massed thousands of happy children, the Royal visitors being
very obviously delighted by what was there so well done.  Following the first
day's proceedings the Telegraph contained 23 and a half columns of reports, and
its contemporary did equal justice to the day. On the evening of the first day
dinner was served at Oakbrook, where the Royal visitors stayed, and the guests
were Lord and Lady Wharncliffe, the Earl and Countess Fitzwilliam, the
Archbishop of York and Mrs. Thomson, the Duke of Norfolk, the Right Hon. Lord
John and Lady Manners, General Sir W. T. Knollys and Miss Knollys, Mr. J. A.
Roebuck, Sir John Brown, Lady Mary Howard, the Marquis of Hamilton,
Major-General Sir H. P. de Bathe, and Mr. Arthur Sumner. In the evening a ball
was given at the Cutlers' Hall, affording a magnificent spectacle. The first
quadrille was taken part in by the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Mark Firth; Earl
Fitzwilliam and the Princess of Wales, the Master-Cutler and Countess
Fitzwilliam, the Duke of Norfolk and Mrs. Wilson, Lord Wharncliffe and Lady
Alice Fitzwilliam, Earl Manners and Miss Knollys, the Marquis of Hamilton and
Lady Howard, Lord John Manners and Lady Wharncliffe.  His Royal Highness
subsequently danced with Mrs. Wilson, and Mr. George Wilson had the honour of
dancing with the Princess of Wales.  The Princess wore white silk, with a long
jacket bodice with gold braid, the skirt and dress trimmed with gold bullion
fringe, with ear-rings of diamonds, a necklace of diamonds and pearls, and a
magnificent tiara of diamonds. The whole effect, wrote a peculiarly enthusiastic
and impressed reporter, "was charmingly fine." The Prince wore the broad Ribbon
of the Garter, Mr. T. R. Gainsford was Master of the Ceremonies, and the
Stewards were Messrs. Charles H. Firth, Henry E. Watson, Marriott Hall, Arthur
Thomas, Major Prest, T. E. Vickers, C. E. Vickers, F. P. Smith, William Smith,
Henry Isaac Dixon, Frederick Fowler, B. P. Broomhead, and W. F. Dixon. The Royal
party left the hall at half-past one, greeted on their appearance at the
entrance "by tremendous cheering from the eager but patient crowds outside." 
One mentions this list of names because it and the dinner party of the following
day included practically the whole of what was Sheffield's "society" in those
far-off days. Lunch was taken in the Cutlers' Hall on the following morning,
when the toast of "The Royal Visitors" was given by the Master-Cutler, and the
Prince said that the Princess and himself had been deeply touched by, and
grateful for, the warmth of the reception given by the town, and said he hoped
very soon to be able to tell Her Majesty "how deep was the devotion of that
democratic town to her person and Throne."  They had expected to see marvellous
things in the great works of the East End, and they had not been disappointed.
The feature of this second day's programme was the presentation of new Colours
by the Princess to the First North Riding Green Howards, a regiment afterwards
to be known as "The Princess of Wales' Own." This took place at a garden party
held at The Farm, the then residence of the Duke of Norfolk in Sheffield; now
smoke-grimed and ugly, but then a fairyland of sylvan beauty; and at the dinner
party at Oakbrook on the second evening the guests were Lord and Lady Halifax,
Lord and Lady Galway, the Duke of Norfolk, Lord and Lady Auckland, Lady Philippa
Howard, the Marquis of Hamilton, Earl Manvers, the Master-Cutler and Mrs.
Wilson, Mr. Edward Firth, Mr. C. H. Firth, Mr. B. P. Broomhead, Mr. T. R.
Gainsford, the Rev. Rowley Hill, Mr. Mundella, Mr. H. E. Watson, Mr. E. M. E.
Welby, and Mr. S. J. Tucker, Rouge Croix.

On the morning of the second day the Prince had telegraphed to Her Majesty,
speaking of the splendid reception which had been given to the Princess and
himself, how greatly gratified they had been with it and by the brilliance of
the illuminations, and during the garden party at The Farm Her Majesty's reply
was received, expressing Her Majesty's gratification at the conduct of her
Sheffield subjects. It was known some time prior to the visit that the Prince
had expressed a desire to get some shooting on the adjacent moors, and he
thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Whilst the shooting was going on, so the
story runs, the Princess busied herself gathering wild flowers in the adjacent
glens and plantations near Longshawe, and though in those days Longshawe was a
long way from the town, it is said that thousands tramped out to see what could
be seen of the shooting.  It lasted for two days and the chief bags were as
follows: The Prince, 76 birds the Duke of Rutland, 27; the Marquis of Hamilton,
93; Earl Shannon, 58; and Mr. Sumner, 68.  The shooting was accompanied by
dinner parties at Longshawe, and the Royal guests returned to town on the
Friday, having spent most of a week in Sheffield and Longshawe, where the
hospitality of the Duke of Rutland was princely. A singularly happy act must be
mentioned in connexion with this visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to
Sheffield.  It came in the shape of a letter to Alderman Mark Firth on December
23rd, 1878, from Sandringham, from the Secretary of the Princess of Wales, and
came at a time when distress in Sheffield was exceedingly severe. The letter was
in the following terms:  " Sir,--The Princess of Wales, having heard with great
regret of the severe distress prevailing in Sheffield, and gratefully
remembering the kind reception received from the inhabitants when the Prince of
Wales and herself visited the town during your Mayoralty, Her Royal Highness has
directed me to forward the enclosed cheque for fifty pounds as a contribution to
the special fund now being raised for relief of the poor in Sheffield, and,
through the Home Secretary, Mr. Cross, Her Royal Highness wishes to be kept in
touch with the conditions in the town." In connexion with this visit the Post
Office in Sheffield dealt with 156,000 words of newspaper copy during the two
days, and a very delightful story was told of the difficulties of the operators.
 They were simply cut off by the crowds from every source of refreshment, and it
was eventually arranged that a cord and rope should be stretched across from the
upper windows of the Post Office and the Brunswick Hotel, and an electric button
enabled the operators to get supplies from time to time, the nature of those
supplies having been decided on beforehand.  At all events, every time the bell
rang a basket came along the wire from the Hotel, and there was only one
accident all through the night. The intervening space was densely crowded by
sightseers, either to watch the constant processions or to gaze at the
illuminations, and the one sad accident which occurred was to a gallon of porter
en route to the Post Office, which was overturned on to the heads of the massed
crowds beneath.

Ralph Blakelock Smith.--Mr. Ralph Blakelock Smith died at Bent's Green Lodge,
Ecclesall, in 1880, at the age of 56. He had spent a busy life in the town,
especially as legal adviser to the Sheffield Water Company. That was
particularly notable during the time when Alderman Thomas Moore fought so
strenuously for acquisition by the town of the gas and water undertakings.  Mr.
Blakelock Smith, however, proved an astute and clever fighter on the other side,
and time after time, when the Corporation efforts seemed on the verge of
success, so far at all events as the Water Company was concerned, high hopes
were dashed by some quite unexpected bit of strategy employed by the company's
adviser. Mr. Smith first lived near Weston Park, his father, Mr. Albert Smith,
well known in the town, removing to Bent's Green, which he transformed from the
posting house known as "The Rising Sun" into a delightful residence. It is
believed to be "the House on the Moors" referred to in Mrs. Holland's novel
bearing that title. The son, during his father's life, occupied Thrift House,
but later he went to Bent's Green Lodge, residing there until his death. His
grandfather, Mr. George Smith, was one of the assistant ministers at the Parish
Church, and curate at Ecclesall 1801-1817, and his great grandfather, Mr. John
Smith, also one of the assistant ministers at the Parish Church, 1755-1776,
curate at Attercliffe, and also head master of the Sheffield Grammar School. 
The last named was son of a Sheffield manufacturer who was Master Cutler in
1749.  Mr. Smith joined his father in practice, and also as law clerk to the
Water Company, the duties in the last-named position becoming very onerous
through the bursting of the Dale Dike Reservoir in 1864. Parliament, following
on that disaster, granted the company's suit for a special commission whereby it
could adjudicate on the claims which were put in, and, through Parliament's
authorization of a charge by the company of an increased rental for water over a
period, the company raised money. In the space of one year the whole of the
claims and the costs had been paid off, and the company was able to carry on.

1881. Thomas William Rodgers.-Mr. T. W. Rodgers passed away in London, his
residence in Sheffield then being Endcliffe Vale. He was a member of an old
family of solicitors in Bank Street, and 70 years old when he died in 1881.  He
was the second son of Mr. Robert Rodgers, and was educated first at Piper's
School, Norton, and finally at Peter Wright's School in Fargate. He was articled
to his father and, whilst in London for the period of service, became special
constable during the great riots. He was admitted as solicitor when 21 years
old, and joined his father, who had in his office the duties pertaining to the
Stewardship of the Ecclesall Court of Request, at a time prior to the
establishment of County Courts, and when civil cases went before Commissioners
who were appointed for the manors of Sheffield and Ecclesall. Mr. Hugh Parker
for many years was steward of the Sheffield Court, with Mr. Michael Ellison as
his deputy, and in due course, and in the position indicated, Mr. T. W. Rodgers
succeeded his father.  In 1847 all these cumbrous appointments were abolished
under a general Act for the establishment of County Courts, a special provision
being that the steward and his deputy in the manorial courts should be the first
judge and registrar in the newly-established County Courts in each district.  So
Mr. T. W. Rodgers became joint registrar in Sheffield with his colleague, Mr.
William Wake. After the death of Mr. Robert Rodgers, Mr. T. W. Rodgers' brother
Henry joined the firm, until the former went to Lincoln's Inn three years later,
becoming a barrister, Mr. Arthur Thomas then becoming partner, and in a later
period Mr. Arthur Swift and Mr. Henry Ashington.

1882. Henry Rodgers.--A great many of the best known legal businesses in the
city have descended from father to son through many generations, and this was
observed in connexion with Messrs. Rodgers & Thomas when Mr. Henry Rodgers died
in 1882, at the age of 67, at Broomfield. He was the youngest son of Mr. Robert
Rodgers, founder of the firm in 1800, and after his father's death became
partner with his brother, the firm taking the style of T. W. & H. Rodgers.  In
1859 Mr. T. W. Rodgers retired, and in 1860, Mr. Henry Rodgers took in his
nephew, Mr. Arthur Thomas, and thus formed the firm of Rodgers & Thomas, the
senior partner retiring in 1872.  He had married, in 1846, Mary, daughter of
Thomas Creswick, of Ecclesall Grange.

Dr. W. Haxworth.-A gentleman spoken of in his day as father of the medical
profession in Sheffield was Dr. William Haxworth, who died in 1882, aged 84, of
which 68 years had been spent in Sheffield. The story of his life, sketchy as it
is, furnishes us with indications of the changes which had come over the town.
When young Haxworth was in his apprenticeship to Mr. George Hounsfield, then the
leading local practitioner, his master resided in Figtree Lane, and, fifty years
before that, Mr. Charles Hawksley Webb conducted what were then regarded as very
large professional operations at his home in Change Alley. When Dr. Haxworth
began on his own account, presumably about 1830, in Queen Street, Mr. John Shore
and Mr. W. Smith (later "Smith of Barnes Hall") lived in Bank Street, Mr. Albert
Smith in High Street, Mr. John Brookfield and Mr. Wheat in Paradise Square.  Mr.
John Brown and Dr. Young were in St. James' Row, Cowley's School was at the top
of Figtree Lane, White's School at the top of School Croft, the Shores resided
at Norton, Meersbrook and Tapton, and the Creswicks at Highfield and
Cliffefield.   Dr. Haxworth's body was interred in S. Mary's Churchyard, the
vault being opened by special permission of the Home Secretary.

William Ellis.--A tragedy in Sheffield's life was revealed when that very gifted
sculptor, William Ellis, passed away on July 19th, 1882, virtually starved to
death, and assuredly starved temperamentally through the neglect his abilities
received from his townsmen.  Hardship and real privation had been his for years
before his death. Apprenticed to Chadburn Bros., he went with unmistakable
talents to London when 21 years old, and then came back to his native town. At
the School of Art he formed firm friendships with Godfrey Sykes and Charles
Green, and his first work of real note was a study of Sappho. The crisis in his
life came when he was allied with Stevens in the competition for the Wellington
monument, and he went to London with Stevens to carry the work through. The
death of the latter before the monument was finished resulted in Ellis losing
all reward for the great amount of work he had done, and he came back to
Sheffield to earn a scanty living as modeller of stove grates and the making of
many busts. The remuneration, however, was very poor, though his bust of
Roebuck, now in the Cutlers' Hall, is a lasting tribute to the greatness of his
genius.

1883. Joseph Pearce.--Mr. Joseph Pearce deserves remembrance in these pages
because he was one of the very early pioneers in newspaper work in the town.  He
died in 1883 at Intake, and for many years was a bookseller and printer in High
Street.  He was the eldest of three sons of Joseph Pearce, of Gibraltar Street,
whose extensive store of classics aroused the admiration of the whole town.
Young Pearce's father combined art with literature, and bought many well-reputed
"old masters" which came under the hammer. With his premises next door to those
of Ebenezer Elliott, the young man naturally turned to writing.  He was
frequently called in to assist in the production of Pearce's Sheffield Magazine
and Yorkshire Miscellany, which, so its author stated, had been formed to
"encourage talent in every way, in every department of science and philosophy,
and to rouse energies which otherwise will lie dormant and be useless." In 1846
Joseph Pearce issued the first number of the Sheffield Times, his office being
in Angel Street, and at that time he had, on his own account, a booksellers'
business in High Street and a printing office in Wilson's Yard, which he
re-named Aldine Court after Aldus, an early printer of celebrity who first
introduced italics into printing. Mr. J. C. Platt was the first editor of the
Sheffield Times, with Mr. Joseph Pearce proprietor. Afterwards he became founder
and proprietor of the Sheffield Telegraph. In 1855 the Stamp Act was abolished,
and thereupon several well-known weeklies were transformed into dailies. Mr.
Pearce, however, had apprehended the abolition, and started his Telegraph a few
days before the abolition came about, thereby securing his first issue some days
before his rivals, and he had what was then regarded as an unprecedented sale.
in 1863 he sold the property to Mr. Leng.

1884. J. H. Andrew.--One of Sheffield's self-made men was Mr. J. H. Andrew, of
Oak Lawn, Oakholme Road, who died very suddenly on his return from Bridlington
in 1884. He was head of the Toledo Works (J. H. Andrew & Co.), and rose from the
ranks of labour. Early in life he was with Wilson & Sothern, in Doncaster
Street, and when 22 was partner in Richard Graves & Son, in Snow Lane, remaining
there fifteen years.  For the next ten years, up to 1870, he carried on his
steel works in Malinda Street, then removing to Toledo Works, which he had built
and had developed his business tremendously. He declined the office of Master
Cutler on account of ill-health.

William Pashley Milner.--Never quite a public man, though very well known in the
town, the death of Mr. William Pashley Milner in 1884 caused very general
regret. It occurred at Meersbrook Hall when he was 78 years old.  He was son of
Gamaliel Milner, one of the twelve capital burgesses of Sheffield, and was long
associated with Attercliffe. He was educated as a solicitor, and had his office
in St. James' Row, entering into partnership with James Pashley Burbeary and
William Smith under the title of Milner, Burbeary & Smith, and "William Smith
junior," afterwards taking a very high place in the town as alderman and one of
the most erudite of its residents.  Mr. Milner retired in 1802 to the
cultivation of valuable and much-loved orchids and other flowers. He succeeded
the Misses Shore at Meersbrook, but in early life, when living with his uncle at
Attercliffe, he lived in a very beautiful home fronted by large gardens and
acres of flowers. He was father of Mr. W. A. Milner, of Totley Hall.

William Overend.--Mr. William Overend's life was busy and assuredly successful,
though he failed in his earnest attempt to secure a place in Parliament. In one
way he did so, as, following unsuccessful efforts to secure a representation of
Sheffield, he was returned for Pontefract in 1860, but it was ascertained that
one of his committee had been guilty of an irregularity, and, in a speech in the
House, Mr. Overend declared his ineligibility to keep his seat, and he was
allowed to withdraw.  He died at West Retford House on December 24th, 1884, aged
75. Born in Sheffield, he was son of Mr. Hall Overend, a surgeon, who was given
a public funeral on his death in 1865.  The son was educated at the Grammar
School. and at Piper's, Norton, where many future successful Sheffielders also
attended. He was articled to Mr. Sangster, of Leeds, but forsook the occupation
of a solicitor in favour of the Bar, and spent much time educating himself in
Hamburg. During this period of absence from home, improving his mind and
educating himself in every way, he travelled up to the second cataract on the
Nile, a feat up to that time seldom accomplished by Englishmen. He was called to
the Bar in 1837, At first he came to Sheffield, and at his first sessions had
five briefs given to him. Then he attached himself to the West Riding Circuit,
and as a pleader for the defence had few equals anywhere. A Q.C. and Bencher of
his Inn in 1851, he became leader of the Midland Circuit, and then came his
effort to secure a place in the House, his memorable and rather tragic campaign
in Pontefract ending in his defeat of Mr. Hugh Childers. He took a very great
part in settling the liabilities of the Sheffield Water Works Company following
on the great flood of 1864, being appointed Commissioner on the Board for
adjusting claims, and was afterwards appointed Commissioner to deal with the
Trade Union outrages in Sheffield, with Mr. J. E. Barker as secretary. The Court
sat from June 3rd, 1867, to July 8th, and its report stated "we believe that out
of the 60 Trade Unions in the town 13 had committed or incited others to commit
these outrages, the saw grinders, file grinders, sickle grinders, fork grinders,
tool makers, fender grinders, pen and pocket knife blade grinders, scissor
forgers, scissor grinders, edge tool forgers, edge tool grinders, scythe
grinders, and saw makers. One hundred and thirty witnesses were called during
the enquiry, and more than 40 cases were declared proved, fifteen of these
against members of the Saw Grinders' Union."

William Bragge.--William Bragge, F.S.A., engineer and antiquary, was born in
Birmingham in May, 1822, and early in life went into engineering there, and also
applied himself assiduously to mechanics and mathematics. Quite a young man he
began railway surveying, and was sent out to Brazil as representative of
Bellhouse & Co., Manchester, there carrying out the lighting of Rio de Janeiro
with gas and the survey of the first railway in that country. He was visited at
his home in Sheffield many years later by the Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro.
Coming to Sheffield, Mr. Bragge became one of the directors of John Brown & Co.,
and was elected Mayor of the town and Master Cutler. All through his residence
in Sheffield he evinced the greatest interest in Sheffield's art schools and
libraries and museums. He returned to his native city in 1876, but had left a
very pronounced impression on the life of Sheffield during his stay. His
antiquarian tastes were catered for by his great wealth, but many of his almost
priceless treasures were destroyed in the great fire at the Birmingham Free
Library in 1879. He died on June 6th, 1884, aged 61 years. The collection of
manuscripts gathered together at great cost by Mr. Bragge was dispersed in
London in June, 1876, the three days sale producing a total of £9,333, and the
principal buyers being Messrs. Quaritch, Muller, Addington, and Stevens, the
last named for clients in the United States.

William Howson.--Mr. William Howson was 60 years old when he died at Tapton Park
in 1884 from paralysis.  His long life had been marked by strict common sense in
business, integrity, a kindly bearing and a generous disposition.  His father
was partner in the firm of Thomas Sansom & Sons, one of the oldest firms in the
town, and on his father's death in 1847 the son William became partner in the
same firm with James William Harrison. Subsequently they were joined by Henry
Harrison, the firm then taking its present title of Harrison Brothers & Howson,
and maintaining a high reputation throughout the world for Sheffield cutlery. 
Mr. William Howson was most prominent as traveller for his firm, but he retired
in 1875, his son George taking his place.

Charles Doncaster.--Mr. Charles Doncaster, who died in December, 1884, at Totley
Grove, will be best remembered as a deep and earnest educationist. He was head
of the poll at the election for the School Board in 1882, receiving 17,614
votes, and, though reserved, he was a very well liked and much respected man. He
was, of course, associated with the firm of Daniel Doncaster & Sons, and
formerly lived at The Hawthorns, Crookesmoor Road, then going to Beauchief,
which district was being gradually opened out residentially.   He chose a lovely
place for his house, quite secluded, and was there enabled to indulge his
pronounced love of botany to the full.  He died at the early age of 43.

Doncaster Family.--The story of the Doncaster family (1536-1912) was told in the
first issue of the works magazine, Forging Ahead, published by the firm in
January, 1919, and containing very much information respecting the early days of
the firm. The Doncasters came to Sheffield from Maplebeck, in Notts., between
Ollerton and Southwell, the little churchyard being full of " Doncaster" graves,
and the old family home a large cottage abutting on to the village green, its
oak beams in the ceilings black with age.  A Thomas Doncaster was Abbot of
Rufford Abbey when the monasteries were dissolved in 1536. The great great
grandfather of Mr. Samuel Doncaster was William of Maplebeck.  He was the
village blacksmith, his shoeing forge was on the village green, and he was a
Quaker married at Burton-on-Trent in 1718. "His son Samuel (1721-1792), after
whom I am named," wrote Mr. Samuel Doncaster, "was my grandfather, coming to
Sheffield about 1750, when "Sheffield was a big village of 11,000 inhabitants." 
He settled in West Bar, keeping a grocer's shop at the foot of Furnace Hill, and
also started soap works in the Park, perhaps, as Mr. Samuel Doncaster declared,
because he thought it would be better if Sheffielders "weshed theirsens a bit
more." His son Daniel took on the trade mark which the firm still uses when he
was only 21 years old, commencing as file maker and steel converter with
converting furnaces in Copper Street.  He lived in Allen Street, then the most
westerly street in the town, with open country and a beautiful landscape of the
Don Valley and the Old Park Woods.  His large garden and orchard covered the
ground on which the Doncaster Street works now stand. He, like Mr. H. I. Dixon
and others, used then to ride on horseback with big saddle bags for weeks at a
time, going as far north as Cumberland and as far south as Wales, collecting
orders and accounts. Later on his sons persuaded him to use a one-seated gig,
named a "sulky," in order that he might not be tempted into giving weary
travellers a lift, those weary ones as often as not proving to be highway
robbers. Two years before he died, Mr. Daniel Doncaster bought Lydgate Hall and
its farm of sixty acres, riding there from the works in Allen Street almost
every afternoon.  The father of Mr. Samuel Doncaster was another Daniel
(1807-1884), born in Allen Street, going as a child to a dames' school in Cross
Smithfield, just behind his father's house, afterwards to a Friends school in
Paradise Square, whence he went to William Singleton's school in Broom Hall, and
later to Loxley Hall school, finishing with a year's schooling at Leeds. He
built his first furnace and warehouse in Doncaster Street in 1831, and resided
at Upperthorpe House until the town overtook it, going to Broomhall Park in
1851.  He had five sons and five daughters, and in the newspaper obituary
published when he died he was spoken of as a man living "a truly noble,
unselfish and useful life full of good deeds, unostentatiously performed, and
though he has gone the memory of him will remain as a precious inheritance." He
had in later life been joined by Mr. Samuel Doncaster's brothers Daniel, David
Kenway and Charles, and Mr. Charles Doncaster during those years devoted a great
deal of care, foresight and ability to the interests of the firm.  Mr. Samuel
Doncaster joined the firm in 1874 as town traveller, after four years
apprenticeship with Seebohm & Dieckstahl, and his first depressing duty was to
sell stock bought at the high prices of 1872-3, following on the Franco-German
war, at a loss of from £5 to £10 per ton.

1885. Juliana Horatio Ewing.--The death occurred at Bath in 1885 of Mrs. Juliana
Horatio Ewing when only 43 years of age, a lady, according to all who knew her,
of delicate health but of the greatest charm, and one who, in her home at
Ecclesfield (she was the daughter of Dr. Alfred Gatty), attracted to herself a
wide and select circle.   Her world-famous writings were chiefly for the young,
but during the last twenty years of her brief life she wrote steadily, and had a
public eager for every fresh book. Perhaps "Jackanapes" was her best; over
50,000 copies of it were sold, and it secured wonderful appreciations from the
reviewers. The Academy said: "Here, stitched in a paper cover, almost
overlooked, was found the book of the season : there is nothing like it outside
Thackeray." The Spectator called it "an exquisite bit of finished work--a
Meissonier in its way."  Several of her books were most sympathetically
illustrated by that great book-illustrator, Randolph Caldecott; they were sound,
sensible, and always wholesome. The Rev. T. Wilkins, then Vicar of S. Michael
and All Angels', Neepsend, in an appreciation of this gifted lady, said that
from childhood her physical weaknesses brought out powers of mind and a vivid
imagination in a cheerfulness in bearing such as could have characterized no
ordinary person, and she used in the most modest way to read her stories round
the family fireside.  Hers was a pure and most useful life.


Alderman Robert Leader.--There was, at the time when Mr. Leng was issuing his
many fulminations from High Street, another editor in the town who preferred
bare knuckles to gloves when fighting. That was Mr. Robert Leader, editor and
also proprietor of the Sheffield Independent. The two marched along parallel
lines, each was ever ready to organize a sudden attack, seldom was there peace
between them in their newspaper work, and behind each was a solid body in
support. I have already indicated various traits which endeared Mr. Leng to
everybody who worked with him. It is very true that in Mr. Robert Leader's
character there was much in the same way. Where the two editors differed was in
politics, and there they differed utterly. As one browses over the old, dirty
newspaper files, discovery is easily made of the fierceness of the fighting
which went on between the two; the bayonet (meaning the pen) was always ready
for the fierce attack, and each man served his paper well. There was one
definite difference between the two. Mr. Leader, in spite of the great work
which he did for his paper and the town, found time to take part in municipal
affairs, whereas Mr. Leng left local ambitions alone, though fiercely eloquent
when discussing them in his paper. Mr. Leng had no recreative hobbies; but his
great rival found new life through his love of hunting. On one occasion, when
riding down through the town, Mr. Leader was flung off his horse head first into
an approaching hansom, and afterwards gleefully declared that the incident would
have made the fortune of any circus. As it was he picked himself out of the
hansom, walked on to his office, and embarked on his day's work without
worrying. Alderman Leader was only ill a week before his death took place, at
Moor End, on 11th October, 1885.  He was then 76 years old, and, to some extent,
death came about through his insistence on attending the meeting of the Town
Council, where discussion was promised on the suitability or otherwise of
allowing traction engines to be used in the streets of the town. Curious as it
may seem to-day, that was a subject on which the principal townsmen in the
'eighties were largely divided. Alderman Leader was born in October. 1809, being
son of another Robert Leader, who was, at that time, proprietor of the
Independent; he was educated at the Sheffield Grammar School, and was James
Montgomery's last apprentice on the Sheffield Iris.  Later, he joined his
father, taking a very active interest in the paper, and for the ensuing fifty
years or so seeing all the many newspaper developments of those changing days.
Alderman Leader's grandfather was engaged in trade, being a member of the firm
of Tudor, Leader & Nicholson, in Tudor Street; and Mr. Chisholm, who passed half
a century in the service of the Independent, tells me that in those far-off days
there was nothing between the premises of the firm here indicated and the
pleasant waters of the Sheaf save a rolling bank of country-side.  Mr. Leader
entered the Town Council in 1876, became alderman four years later, was also
elected Town Trustee, and was held in honour throughout the town. When Mr.
Leader lay dying, in 1885, Mr. Leng buried every atom of a long-standing strife.
The two life-long antagonists were men of a rare charm and sympathy, and, though
Mr. Leader's passing came at two o'clock in the morning in the year mentioned,
the Sheffield Telegraph appeared that morning with a striking and very manly
appreciation of its long-time rival. In it Mr. Leng spoke of him as a great
politician, a man of strong will, totally indifferent to all side issues, with a
robustness in his Liberalism which made him impatient of those of feebler sort.
He never cultivated the outward gloss; he never deviated from straight, blunt
speech, and with him politics was a real and very earnest thing. He took an
important part in every election fought in the town during his manhood, and
during the last few years occupied an absolutely unique position in his party.
His integrity was never in question, and on his own political platform he was
the happiest of men, but to smash an opponent was his one great delight. Men of
his stamp rarely arise to guide the fortunes of a party in any town. Mr. Leader
was directly responsible for indicating a blunder by Government which set back
the incorporation of the town by some years. Lord John Russell's motion, in
1832, to confer electoral rights on Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds caused
large disquiet in Sheffield, and Mr. Leader promptly sent out a pamphlet
entitled "A Pamphlet on the Population of the town of Sheffield, with a view to
its being comprehended in the motion about to be made in Parliament by Lord John
Russell." It had a very wide circulation, and pointed out that Lord John's
advisers had erred very badly.  They had informed him that Manchester, with its
many outlying districts, then  had a population  of  149,756;  Birmingham, also 
with  its outskirts, 106,722; and Leeds, with an even wider circuit of
dependencies, a population of 83,796. The pamphlet further showed that only the
Sheffield township was dealt with in Lord John's calculations, whereas it
possessed six townships, in all of which the same trade was being carried on.
Taking those six into consideration, the populations of the four towns referred
to were: Manchester, 149,796; Birmingham, 106,722; Leeds, 83,796; and Sheffield,
over 90,000. Apparently, the official blunder was one common in all works of
reference in connexion with Sheffield; but the blunder took Leeds into
possession of electoral rights in 1832, whereas Sheffield had to wait eleven
years before the Charter of Incorporation came--in August, 1843.

Matthew Ellison Hadfieid.--Monuments to his skill stood all over the town when
Mr. Matthew Ellison Hadfield died in 1885, 72 years old, at Knowle House, in
Norfolk Road. He was one of the founders of the Sheffield Club, and, when in the
Town Council (1854), was a very earnest supporter of the Corporations
Improvement Bill, for he was a man to whom the betterment of the town meant more
than the accumulation of wealth. A handsome, very genial and highly cultured
man, he had made his own way in the world. Born at Lees Hall, Glossop, he went
into the office of his maternal uncle, Mr. Michael Ellison, in Sheffield, when
15 years old, and was afterwards articled to a Doncaster architect. In 1837 he
became partner in Sheffield with Mr. John Grey Weightman, then busy with plans
for the Collegiate School, the offices being in the old Corn Exchange buildings.
For twenty years a fine business was carried on, especially during the Gothic
revival, and many churches in this country and Ireland were built to their
plans. Acting in association with Sir John Fowler, a great deal of work was
executed on the new M.S. & L. line to Sheffield and the East Coast. Mr. George
Goldie joined the firm in 1850; in 1864 Mr. Hadfield's son joined it, and the
business assumed very great proportions. Mr. Hadfield was employed by four Dukes
of Norfolk, and the town, at the time of his death, was full of his creations.
These included the Norfolk Market Hall, the Fitzalan Market, the Royal Victoria
Hotel, the Gas Company's Offices in Commercial Street, the Norfolk Drill Hall,
many Catholic Schools, S. Vincent's Church, S. Joseph's Home, Queen's Tower, the
Cyclops Works, Thornbury for Mr. F. T. Mappin, Bleak House for Mr. John Fowler
in Manchester Road, the Corn Exchange, S. Marie's Church, and Pawson &
Brailsford's fine pile at Church Gates.  He was also architect of the Salford
Roman Catholic Cathedral; he restored the Manor Lodge and the tombs of the
Shrewsbury family in the Parish Church.

George Wilson.--Mr. George Wilson, of Banner Cross, died at that residence in
December, 1885, and was attended during his illness by the famous London
specialist, Sir William Jenner. He had been seized with a stroke at Cyclops
Works, and whilst lying there stricken, so great was the respect shown for him,
that Mr. Michael Hunter stopped all his grinding wheels and machinery, the
tramcars were taken past the works at a walking pace, the railway engine drivers
were forbidden to whistle save under conditions of extreme urgency as they
passed along the line, and the Chief Constable diverted every possible bit of
street traffic elsewhere. All that could be done was done, but in vain, and
death ensued as stated. Though only 56 years old, Mr. Wilson had a European
reputation. Born at Broughty Ferry, he was with his father in Fifeshire in the
flax trade when he was noticed by Mr. Charles Cammell up there, and brought to
Sheffield when he was nine years old. There Mr. Cammell sent the boy to the
Collegiate School, and afterwards took him into his works in Furnival Street,
then Messrs. Johnson & Co. Later Mr. Cammell moved to a point where he could
most easily receive his coal and iron, and bought from the Duke of Norfolk 49
acres of land near the railway at twopence-halfpenny a yard.  At that time the
maximum output was a ton of springs a week, and the weekly wage bill £300. Mr.
Johnson died before this Savile Street enterprise developed, but in 1864 fifteen
acres of land was acquired, and yet another fifteen acres for future
developments. The result was that within 22 years the output had increased to
100 tons a week, with a weekly wage bill of £3,000. In 1864 the firm was turned
into a Limited Company, Mr. Wilson being managing director and Mr. Charles
Cammell chairman. Years before, when Messrs. Johnson & Cammell needed a
representative in America, they looked round and decided to send "young Wilson,"
a decision followed by the happiest possible results, for he made a splendid
overseas representative, and gradually, following on the conversion of the firm
into a Limited Company, rose to a position of great esteem through the whole
town. When the Russian Grand Dukes and the Lords of our Admiralty visited
Sheffield to see what was being done in the Cyclops Works, they were royally
entertained at Banner Cross by Mr. Wilson. In 1874 he became Master Cutler, his
Feast being delayed because he had great hopes of inducing the Prince and
Princess of Wales to attend it, a hope in which he was disappointed; but Mr.
Wilson found himself able to disclose the fact that they would visit the town
the following year, and to Mr. Mark Firth fell the honour of entertaining the
Royal couple. Responding to the toast of his health at that Feast, Mr. Wilson
said it was possible in extreme competition to cheapen too much.  They had an
immense labour market already being educated and already skilled to a degree
beyond anything known before, and that labour was being guided by employers well
known for their aptitude and energy. It was for them to see that Sheffield's
name was kept ahead of all the world. The death of Mr. Cammell occurred in 1879
at a time when Mr. Wilson was chairman of the Company. Before this the Dronfield
works had been established by Wilson, Cammell & Co. for the manufacture of a
patent wheel, a process which was abandoned, and the works used for production
of rails. A splendid plant was laid down, the result being a great business at a
time when other firms were doing comparatively little.  Gradually there came the
trouble over railway rates, and the inevitable fight. It was found impossible to
obtain concessions from any of the railway companies in the matter of rates, and
the firm eventually decided on the bold experiment of transferring the whole
establishment from Dronfield to Workington, and combining the Dronfield Steel
Works and the Derwent Hematite Company at Workington, on the Solway. That
resulted in an annual saving of £60,000, for it was possible to send the cargoes
of rails from the Solway to Liverpool by steam barges. To say that the scheme
and transference startled the entire trade world is but to state a sober fact,
but the " Bismarck of Commerce," as Mr. Wilson was often called, got it through
triumphantly. His enterprise was followed by other firms, and thus the trade in
rails left Sheffield. The Cyclops Works, with a called up capital of a million
and a half sterling, were rightly regarded as second only to those of Krupp in
Germany, and Mr. George Wilson was the ruling and the guiding spirit.  He was
kindness itself, and full of consideration for his men, and as one of his oldest
workmen said afterwards, "it is rare indeed that we get a George Wilson." The
removal of Cammells' works from Dronfield to the sea coast at Workington in far
off Cumberland came in 1881, to the great distress of Dronfield, a blow from
which it did not recover for a full generation. The firm made clear the reason
for the change, stating that it was induced by a desirability for competing more
effectually with its competitors in the home and foreign markets as makers of
steel rails, and throughout Sheffield at that time there was a definite dread
lest other great manufacturers of the town might follow suit and similarly carry
their industries to the coast. At the time when Cammells' great removal took
place it was pointed out that the cost of bringing raw material to Sheffield,
and of getting finished goods to the coast, was a great drawback to enterprise,
and before Cammells went there, other far-seeing capitalists had established
railmills along the Cumberland coast. The establishments at Workington, the West
Cumberland and the Moss Bay undertakings were cited, at each of which the output
in steel rails was said to exceed 1,600 tons weekly, whilst the rapid growth of
Workington was evidenced by its 44 blast furnaces within a six miles radius.

1886. James Poole.--One of the greatest of Sheffield's artists in the person of
James Poole died on March 14th, 1886. He was 82, and died at Ecclesall Manor
House. He was a most lovable man, with no touch of egotism about him.  Son of a
Birmingham merchant, his eldest brother, William, was a successful portrait
painter, and once President of the Sheffield School of Art.  James Poole came to
Sheffield when 23 years old with a collection of his paintings, and took rooms
at Riley's, the Old China Shop, where his stock was quickly exhausted, and Mr.
James Rimington, of Rimington Hall, was his first patron in Sheffield. For years
he taught, and reckoned that he walked 100 miles a week, going to Chesterfield,
giving his lessons, and walking both ways, and on Saturday--a day of
recreation--walking to Hathersage for fly fishing in the Derwent, and walking
home, usually with a full creel. None of those days was wasted, for when the
fish rose lazily he employed himself with his pencil sketching the beauties of a
valley which has grown very dear to thousands of Sheffielders in later years. 
Most of his money was invested in railways and Sheffield Water Company shares,
and when the great flood came in 1864, and there was a slump in railway stock,
he stood on the verge of ruin.  At that critical juncture came the consistent
and very generous patronage of Mr. Joseph Gillott.  That gave the artist steady
work for two years, and gradually he rebuilt his fortunes. Singularly enough, he
never exhibited in the Royal Academy, simply because he never sought to do so.
He sold his pictures as quickly as he painted them, and had a great vogue in
such places as Manchester, London and, curiously enough, Torquay, general wonder
being excited at his staying in Sheffield so long.  But James Poole, like many
another artist, loved Sheffield and its incomparable surroundings. For three
months of every summer he visited Scotland or Wales or Switzerland, always
returning with a portfolio full of sketches, the frameworks of pictures. 
Creswick, David Cox and he became great chums on these angling and sketching
excursions, and Poole was with Cox at Bettws-y-Coed when that artist repainted
the sign of the inn for a dinner, and which work, so it was said, was afterwards
sold for £1,000. Poole's style was very like Creswick's, and both were pupils of
Barber in Birmingham.  James Poole was passionately fond of mountain scenery,
"Mountain Poole," as he was called by his artist friends, and Creswick declared
that no man living had such "feeling" for mountains as James Poole.  Forest
scenery claimed his attention in later years, and when Lord Palmerston visited
Endcliffe Hall he expressed a very great admiration for the examples of Poole's
art which were hanging there.  Yet it is said that the highest price he ever got
for a painting was £120.

H. F. Crighton.--H. F. Crighton was an Ayrshire laddie, 62 years old when he
died in Scotland in 1886, having gone there from Sheffield on a visit.   His
father fought in the Scots Guards at Waterloo, and the son was a tailor when he
first exhibited paintings in the Edinburgh Academy, afterwards going for study
in Paris.  He lived in Sheffield for 30 years, and helped the local School of
Art a great deal, whilst he occupied a seat in the Town Council from 1869 to
1877. Ill health interfered with his work more than once, and he indulged in one
memorable trip to Algiers with his friend, W. Keeling, in 1883, and both found a
new field there for their talents. His principal local portraits were of Messrs.
Thomas Moore, W. C. Leng, Thomas Jessop, W. F. Dixon, Dr. Falding, and R. N.
Phillips, the last being exhibited in the Academy.

1881. Samuel Roberts.--Mr. Samuel Roberts, of Queen's Tower, died there, aged
87. The founder of the family, Mr. Samuel Roberts, was born in 1649, as stated
on his grave in Ecclesfield Churchyard, and died in 1715, having ten children. 
Jacob, the ninth, was baptized at Ecclesfield in 1697, and of his eight
children, the second son, Samuel, born in 1763 in Sheffield, was father of Mr.
Samuel Roberts, of Queen's Tower.  The father died in 1848, being 85 years old,
and having lived a remarkable life. Mr. Samuel Roberts, now spoken of, was born
at Park Grange, and educated at Milk Street, then in charge of J. H. Abraham,
and at Whitley Hall Boarding School. Then he went to the Old Grammar School in
Townhead Street, and afterwards to Catherine's College, Cambridge, where he took
his degrees. He joined his father's firm in Eyre Street as correspondent and
treasurer, but on his father's death took out his capital and retired from
business.  He became Town Trustee in 1847, and in 1872 was made Town Collector. 
In 1845 he entered the Town Council, and in the same year was made Alderman. His
life is spoken of as one of generous benevolence and great liberality. 
Practically every case which went before his notice was personally investigated,
and he made many large gifts to the charities of the town.  He built Queen's
Tower, but never lived there, and died in 1887.


James M. Wehli.-Sheffield ran close to entertaining an angel unawares when it
had as resident a gentleman who subsequently made a very great name for himself
in other countries. This was Baron James M. Wehli, who died at San Remo in 1887.
Twenty-five years before this date he was a very well-known musician in
Sheffield, and as professional pianist had under him the children of all the
first families in the town.  He also established an orchestra here, but the
Sheffield public was not educated up to the class of music he purveyed, and this
effort failed.  He left Sheffield about 1864, as Thalberg had discovered him
whilst paying a professional visit to the town, and took him on tour to London
and also on the Continent. Further than that, Wehli made a great success of a
visit he paid to the United States and Canada.  His first appearance with the
great Thalberg was at Leeds, where the couple played the duet from " Norma" in
such a fashion as roused the most tumultuous applause, and it was said that the
audience was astounded at the apparition of such amazing local talent. Before he
came to Sheffield Wehli had toured Germany with almost dramatic success, playing
before nearly every Court in Europe, before the Emperors of Russia and Austria,
before the Viceroy of Egypt, the Grand Duke of Baden, had been honoured by the
Sultan of Turkey, and also played before Queen Victoria.  He received presents
from all quarters, but retired into obscurity in Sheffield.  He was originally
pupil of Tomaschek and disciple of no mean school, severe and pure in method as
Thalberg himself, "as fervid as Liszt and with all Chopin's poetic delicacy and
charm."  He had, as a biographer of the day said, few living rivals.  The only
time he appeared in Sheffield after his departure with Thalberg was at the Music
Hall in Surrey Street.  What caused him to take up his residence here after his
triumphs abroad one cannot say.  At that time the town can have had no
musicianly attractions for such a soul; but he did come, and though making money
through his lessons the town revealed an aloofness characteristic of it in those
times and refused to honour him.

Arthur Hayball.--h Sheffield craftsman of great skill passed away in June, 1887,
when Arthur Hayball died.  He was 43 years at the Sheffield School of Art, as
his abilities secured for him the honour of being made a student for life in
1848.  He was described as unsurpassed in wood carving, and absolutely an artist
in expression. When the Great Exhibition of 1851 was held he sent up an exhibit
in defence of the character of the School of Art, and it was spoken of in the
following terms:  "This cabinet is the work of Arthur Hayball, a young wood
carver of Sheffield. Scarcely a single part of it is open to reasonable
objection.  The design is pure Italian, abundantly rich in ornament and free
from the monstrosities which too frequently deface similar productions."

How greatly his genious was appreciated may be estimated from commissions which
he executed. For the Duke of Norfolk he provided the fittings of Arundel Chapel,
and also supplied many reredoses, stalls and altars in Spain and Ireland; Dr.
Gatty entrusted him with much restoration work in Ecclesfield Church, and for
Mr. Henry Wilson he carved the handsome screen in St. Silas' Church.

William Hutchinson. -The death of Mr. William Hutchinson, then Alderman, took
place at Broomhall Park in 1887 when he was 87 years old. His father had quite a
prosperous business in Pinstone Street as scissor manufacturer, and the son, at
a time when the pressure of French competition was being felt, went to London as
traveller for his firm.  He could not sell his scissors--he was told Sheffield
folks kept taking to London just what London had and was asked if Sheffie!ders
had no ideas. The conversation ran on until the Londoner showed his young
visitor a scarificator and asked if his firm could make them.  The young man
believed that it could. One was brought home, and what had been an exclusive
trade in London was better done in Sheffield, where it created a new industry.

Thomas Jessop.--A very real shock ran through the town when Mr. Thomas Jessop
passed away at Endcliffe Grange, on November 30th, 1887.  He had reached the age
of eighty-three; and the appreciation in which he was held may to some extent be
gauged by the fact that the Sheffield Telegraph devoted five columns to the
story of his life. The story takes us to strange scenes.  Mr. Jessop was born in
Blast Lane, Sheffield, on January 30th, 1804, a genuine Park lad, and Blast Lane
in those days was a very different place to what it is to-day.  The canal then
was clear and pretty and full of fish, and it was no uncommon sight to see men
walk along its banks armed with little knobsticks with which they hit the
luckless fish on the head, and so caught them. His father's cottage in Blast
Lane is spoken of as a very charming place with a lovely lake and gardens.  As
with many other manufacturers in those days, Mr. Jessop, the father, lived next
door to his works, being a member of the firm of Mitchell, Raikes & Jessop, and
the son joined him in 1830. The firm was in quite a small way in the making of
steel, but it became William Jessop & Sons two years after the young man,
Thomas, had joined it. By that time he had become quite a practical man, and had
been to America on a very successful visit, wherein he laid the foundation for a
subsequent great connexion with that country. Then the business was taken to
Brightside, and afterwards, works at Kilnhurst were added.  Gradually the
Brightside works were enlarged until they covered thirty acres, all freehold,
including the site of the old Brightside water works which were acquired in 1845
from the assignees of Parker, Shore & Company; and more land had been secured by
purchase from Admiral Southeran,  The firm had originally been established in
1793, and its development in Brightside became so great that, very soon,
practically all the later additions to the Navy were fitted with Jessop's stern
posts, rudders and other parts, and to this had to be added considerable orders
from Continental navies as well. About the middle of the century there came a
period of very great anxiety with regard to funds; money was "tight" and every
ship due in Liverpool was very anxiously looked for because of the specie she
might have on board. In 1847, came a panic in banks and railways, and money went
to twenty per cent., but the firm pulled through at a time when  many others
could not stand the strain. It became a Limited Company in 1875, the valuation
of its assets being returned at £84,480, and twenty-nine acres were included at
twopence per yard. In his dealings with the shareholders in the new Company, Mr.
Jessop was liberality itself, and its prosperity was never in any doubt. It had
acted as pioneer in sending steel to America, and had got as much as £80 per ton
for it.  Those were the good times for Sheffield, the times before the
conversion of the firm into a limited company, and Mr. Jessop and his brother
Sidney heaped up their riches as quietly and as easily as was ever done
anywhere.  They used to call at the King's Head on the way to business in the
morning for a glass of beer, go to the Park works for an hour and a half, go
back to the King's Head for another glass and for bread and cheese, home to
dinner and back to the works in the evening. Not strenuous, but sufficing in the
days of which I write. Mr. Jessop was a very close friend of Mr. Gillott of
Birmingham, the great steel pen maker, and had as his contemporaries men who
assuredly helped to make Sheffield, such as T. B