For several generations, the Colgrave family – originally spelled as Colgreaves or Colgraves – had been involved in hand-forging table knife blades at Ecclesall.  Thomas Colgrave (c.1781-1867) worked at Lane End and married Sarah nee Lingard. One branch of the family was listed in directories at Dobbin Hill and Button Hill. This Hawley stainless knife was apparently linked to another offshoot of the Colgrave-Lingard family, which later moved to Sheffield.

One of Thomas’s and Sarah’s sons was Thomas Lingard Colgraves (1831-1898), who was a table blade forger. Thomas L. Colgraves’ son was another Thomas (1870-1950).  In 1891, the last-named Thomas Colgrave was living with his parents in Hodgson Street, Sheffield, and working as a table blade forger.  He married Charlotte Emily Warren in 1894. In the Census (1911), Thomas was enumerated at Spring House Road as an employer, with one son, Wilfred Outwin (1895-1961), working as a table blade striker – presumably for Thomas. By 1919, Thomas was listed in directories as a table blade forger at 173 Rockingham Street.  Kelly's Directory of the Engineering Hardware & Metal Trades (1934) lists Thomas as a table blade forger, still working at 173 Rockingham Street (with his home at 33 Ramsey Road, Crookes).  In the Register of England & Wales (1939), he was living at the same address, but had retired.  Wilfred was at 31 Ramsey Road and still working as a table blade hand forger.

Stainless blades were not usually hand-forged – the steel was too hard – and were typically machine-forged. Moreover, Thomas Colgrave & Son is not apparently listed in directories. Nevertheless it seems likely that this Colgrave knife in the Trust’s collection relates to Thomas and Wilfred. Thomas had two other sons – Thomas Arthur (1899-1982) and Arnold Edward (1904-1981) – but they were, respectively, an engineer and an architect.  According to Kate Colgrave (a descendant), Wilfred was the last knife maker in the family line. In the 1950s, Wilfred was listed as a forger at Bowdon Street.  Along with a striker, he apparently forged knives for Harrison Fisher and Petty, and specialist knives for fishmongers. His last works address was at the premises of J. Dewsnap Bowler Ltd. He died on 1 March 1961, leaving £2,100.  The graves of Wilfred and his parents are at Crookes Cemetery.