John Rodgers (1786-1854) was a table knife forger, whose family worked variously in Nursery Street, Spitalfields, and Bridge Street.  By 1851, John Rodgers was living with his wife, Elizabeth, at Water Lane.  Like many cutlers, his family combined knife making with beer: the house at Water Lane was the Ship Inn.  The couple had several sons, including George (1811-1864), Samuel (1814-1850), and William (1818-1861).  John Rodgers & Sons first appeared in a Sheffield directory in 1845 as a table and pen knife, razor, and scissor manufacturer, Spitalfield.  In the following year, it was involved in a legal action (Rodgers v. Nowill and Rodgers), which had been launched by the illustrious Joseph Rodgers & Sons of Norfolk Street.  The latter took John and William Nowill and William Rodgers (John’s son) to court for allegedly infringing its name by selling knives stamped ‘J. Rodgers & Sons’, with the ‘V [crown] R’ mark.  The directors of Joseph Rodgers & Sons were dismissive of ‘John Rodgers & Sons’.  They alleged that it was neither a partnership nor a manufacturer.  John had kept a beer shop, occasionally working as a table blade forger, but was insolvent in 1839.  Samuel was a scissors grinder and publican; his brother, William, was a journeyman pen-knife grinder in Nursery Lane.  In 1843, Nowill’s had ‘colorably’ taken a workshop in the name of ‘John Rodgers & Sons’, but with William Rodgers paying the rent.  Soon knives marked ‘J. Rodgers & Sons’ were on sale.  In 1847, at the end of a landmark legal case that cost the plaintiffs £2,000, Joseph Rodgers & Sons obtained a legal restraint on John Rodgers & Sons.  However, only nominal damages of £2 were awarded (Sheffield Independent, 26 June 1847).  

In 1848, William Rodgers was insolvent (Sheffield Independent, 8 April 1848).  Despite this and the legal restraint, John Rodgers & Sons continued to trade: indeed, in 1852 it advertised for about ten ivory table-knife hafters and several spring-knife ‘setters-in’, experienced in making three- and four-blade knives for the American market (Sheffield Independent, 3 July 1852).  Later that year, the firm announced a move from Bridge Street to ‘more commodious premises’ at Norfolk Street – the same thoroughfare as Joseph Rodgers & Sons!  The latter again took legal action over the use of the Rodgers’ name, though in 1853 the case went against them.   In that year, the John Rodgers’ partnership was dissolved, with the dissolution document signed by William Rodgers, John and George Rodgers (with their mark), and William Thomas Staniforth.  The other partner, Samuel Rodgers, landlord of the Ship Inn, had died on 16 August 1850.  John Rodgers died at Water Lane on 8 October 1854, aged 68, and was buried at the parish churchyard.  His widow, Elizabeth, continued as landlady of the Ship until her death on 5 November 1856, aged 70.  Her son, George, took over the pub, though in the early 1860s he became the cutler-publican at the Norfolk Arms in Norfolk Street.  He died on 17 September 1864, aged 53, and was buried at Burngreave cemetery.   

John Rodgers & Sons was last listed in a directory in 1860 at 32 Nursery Street.  But William continued to trade at that address as a manufacturer of pen, pocket, and sportsman’s knives.  He told the Census in April 1861 that he employed eight workers.  However, he died only a few weeks later on 19 May 1861 in Nursery Street.  He left under £100 and was buried in a grave purchased by his wife, Hannah, at Burngreave.  Thomas Hobson may have been an associate of William.  The ‘successor’ of John Rodgers & Sons was Joseph Rodgers & Co, which was operated by William’s nephews, Samuel and Joseph.