Jack Cheetham (1920-1993) was born at Sheffield, the son of Fred, who was a silversmith at Mappin & Webb.   In 1934, Jack left Heeley Bank School and joined his father.   Mappin & Webb already had 83 silversmiths and during the Depression the firm was shedding staff.  Jack, as he admitted, was only recruited because his father worked there.  His apprenticeship was interrupted by War service, though he later completed his training at Mappin & Webb.  He became interested in trade unionism and became a president of the Sheffield area of the National Union of Gold, Silver & Allied Trades.  He was attuned to social changes in the country after the War, especially the widespread belief that working lives could be better.  The silver trade was part of those changes.  At Mappin & Webb (and other big silverware firms), the advent of stainless steel and air travel (which soon destroyed the lucrative trade in equipping ocean liners) signalled the end of the old style silver trade.  Jack became a manager at the firm and was largely tasked with liaising with designers on the development of new products.  

In 1961, he established a silverware business with partner Cyril Long (who was the last maker of black fibre handles for tea and coffee pots).  They first traded as Studio Plate Co in a small workshop at Devonshire Lane.  Over seventeen years, they built up the business into a unit that employed eighteen men, two girls, and a few outworkers.  Bob Lamb was one of those workers.  The firm relocated to John Street and then to Arundel Street and was restyled as Sterling Silverware Ltd.  Jack recalled that Preston’s, a jewellers at Bolton, was a good customer; and he also manufactured commemorative Royal silver pieces.  Lonsdale Belts were part of his diverse output.  In an interview with local journalist Keith Farnsworth (Quality, November/December 1981), Jack recalled working so hard (up to 85 hours a week) that it affected his health.  

In 1977, he sold Sterling Silverware to former MP and Master Cutler Sir Peter Roberts (1912-1985).  In 1977, a silver mark for Sterling Silverware (‘SS LTD’ in a trefoil) was registered from Arundel Street.  In that year, Jack made a Britannia silver rose-bowl for the Queen’s Jubilee, which was the first piece to bear a special Assay mark to commemorate that event.  It was hallmarked at a special ceremony at Cutlers’ Hall in June 1977 and presented to the Company by Sir Peter Roberts.  Besides the Farnsworth interview, Jack featured in a photographic essay on little mester workshops by Ron Steerwood and Peter Machan (1986)¹.  After relinquishing his company, Jack continued to work in a small workshop at Howard Street.  Jack Cheetham, of Birley Moor Drive, Frecheville, Sheffield, died on 21 March 1993, leaving £125,000.

^1. Steerwood, Rob; and Machan, Peter, Made in Sheffield: A Photographic Survey of Little Mesters Workshops (Sheffield, 1986)