William Smith
When William Smith died on 1 May 1931, aged 90, his newspaper obituary described him as ‘Sheffield’s Former Oldest Workman’, with ‘78 Years With One Firm’ (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 2 May 1931). That firm was Joseph Rodgers & Sons, where William had served his apprenticeship. He had been born in Sheffield, the son of Joseph Smith (a saw maker) and his wife, Sarah. William apparently married late in life (he was unmarried in 1881, when he was living with h....
