Francis Lowe was a retail watchmaker and jeweller with a shop in Effingham Street, Rotherham. Knives with Lowe’s name on the blade would have been made to order by Sheffield cutlery manufacturers for sale in the Rotherham shop, possibly as part of a canteen of cutlery, a popular engagement or wedding gift.

The Lowe family originally came from Warwickshire. Francis was born in about 1826 and married Eliza West in 1850. The family moved to Rawmarsh in the 1850s and by 1871 they were living on Eldon Road in Eastwood, Rotherham. Francis and Eliza Lowe both died in 1908.

Francis Lowe Jnr., one of 7 children, was born in 1862. His watch repair business was established in 1886 at Frederick Street, Rotherham and it remained a family firm for almost 100 years. It moved to new premises at 24 & 26 Effingham Street in 1932 and was incorporated in 1948.

Francis Jnr. died in 1950, having been succeeded in the business by his sons Francis Sidney (1891-1971) and Harold Ernest (1894-1971). When the brothers retired in 1960 they were followed as co-directors by their sons Francis Donald Lowe and Rex Desmond Lowe, who had both joined the firm before the Second World War. Patrick Lowe, great grandson of the founder, also worked in the family firm but in September 1983 the Rotherham Advertiser reported that he did not wish take charge and, as his father and uncle were nearing retirement, the business was to close. An appeal was made for customers to collect any repairs that had been left and the company announced that they would hold their first ever sale before closing.

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