William S. Searls & Company
William Singleton Searls was born in Sheffield in about 1823. He was apparently the son of Thomas, a toolmaker, and his wife, Mary. In 1849 – when he married Caroline, the daughter of cutlery merchant Edward Hobson – William was a bookkeeper at the office of The Sheffield Independent. At the start of the 1850s, William established W. S. Searls & Co, a cutlery wholesaler and exporter in Worcester Street, Birmingham. He marketed a wide range of cutlery and electro-plate and is known to h....
