Chatterley’s knives are usually stamped ‘Sheffield’ or ‘Made in Sheffield’, which is where they were made. But the firm was based in Birmingham. It was founded by John Bishop Chatterley (1826-1907), who was the son of Charles (a brass founder) and his wife, Maria. By the 1850s, John B. Chatterley was working at Newtown Row as a manufacturer and japanner of papier mâché and iron tea trays, tables, cruet frames, liquor stands, and every description of papier mâché goods; and photographic materials (General and Commercial Directory … of Birmingham, 1858). The firm later switched to the manufacture of silver and electro-plated wares.

In 1894, it was registered as a private limited company, with a capital of £5,000.  John B. Chatterley was managing director at a salary of £150 per annum. His sons – Albert Edward Chatterley (1863-1946) and Frank Martin Chatterley (1868-1944) – were also directors (Birmingham Daily Post, 29 June 1894).  A silver mark was registered in the same year.

John B. Chatterley died on 17 March 1907, leaving £4,522.  The firm continued to trade during the interwar period and relocated to Pitsford Street, Birmingham. It had a London showroom at Hatton Garden.  After the Second World War, the export trade for Chatterley’s silverware and canteens of cutlery expanded rapidly. The firm remained under family control. In the 1970s, the founder’s grandson, Martin, was managing director (Jones, 1981).  However, Chatterley’s became insolvent in 1994. The name survives in Sheffield as fabricator of metal products.