This knife is marked with the name of an ironmonger, Thomas George Thompson (1894-1953).  He was born at Ashford in Kent and had moved to Sheffield by 1922, when he married Ethel Beal (1892-1958).   By the 1930s, Thomas G. Thompson had set out his stall as an ironmonger and tool merchant at Norfolk Market Hall.   On one occasion he advertised as the ‘Grate Man’, but his stall also had ‘a fine range of cutlery, including butchers’ cutlery, all Sheffield made, hand-forged, in fact all the cutlery is Sheffield made’ (Sheffield Independent, 20 November 1936). 

In 1938, Thompson’s was registered as a private limited company, with £500 capital.  The directors, who resided at 10 Cockshutt Drive, were Thomas George, his wife, Ethel, and Vera Dodd (1912-1974).    The latter was the daughter of a painter: but both Vera’s parents had died in the early 1920s, which may explain why she was living with the Thompsons.  In 1942, Vera married John Weston Hinds (1901-1969), who was an engineer and machinist from Hemel Hempstead.   J. W. Hinds later joined Thomas G. Thompson as a partner.  In 1951, T. G. Thompson Ltd was listed at Norfolk Market Hall as an ironmonger, tool merchant, and seller of ‘finest Sheffield cutlery’.  Lawnmowers were also supplied and repaired.

Thomas George Thompson died on 18 November 1953, aged 59, leaving £11,347 to Ethel.  She died on 5 June 1958, with probate (valued at £8,783) granted to Vera and J. W. Hinds (‘company director’).  In the following year, Norfolk Market Hall was demolished and the Thompson business relocated to Castle Market.  It was now a tool merchant and advertised products such as Stanley tools.   John Weston Hinds, of 10 Cockshutt Drive, died on 31 January 1969, leaving £2,980.   Vera died on 12 April 1974, leaving £13,948, when Thompson’s was still listed at Castle Market.