Joseph Binney (bapt.1751-1812), a cutler, was apparently the son of Joseph and his wife Ann née Archer.  The records of the Company of Cutlers suggest that he was apprenticed to his father and granted his Freedom in 1775.  He married Catherine Turner (c.1758-1828) in 1782.  In 1774, Joseph Binney was listed as a pen knife cutler at Broad Lane, using the trade mark ‘PHENIX’.   Was this the first Joseph Binney or his son? It is difficult to say, but in 1787, Joseph Binney (presumably the son) was listed at Broad Lane End.  He was a maker of white metal, metal-framed, and japanned knives (trade marked ‘THAT’).  In the late 1780s, he supported a petition forwarded to Parliament, in which he and his fellow Freemen challenged the rules and regulations of the Company of Cutlers (Macdonald, 2005¹).  Binney evidently owned property.  He advertised the sale of several dwelling houses, ‘pleasantly situated’ in Garden Street (Sheffield Register, 27 May 1791).  A street plan (1790) in Sheffield Local Studies Library (PictureSheffield) shows Binney’s properties on the south side of Garden Street.

In 1797, Joseph Binney continued to be listed at Broad Lane.  In the same directory, Longden, Binney & Co was a merchant at Campo Lane – a partnership which included Joseph Binney.  It was dissolved in 1807.  Joseph and Catherine had several children, including Joseph (1780-1858), John (bapt.1793-1845), and Thomas (bapt.1795-1842).  In the Sheffield directory (1811), Joseph Binney, Son, & Co was listed as a merchant at Hartshead.  Presumably, the ‘Son’ was Joseph.   However, his father died at the end of December 1812 and was buried on New Year’s Day at St James’ churchyard.  The burial register described him as a merchant, Crookesmoor, aged 61.   Joseph Binney, Son, & Co continued to trade at Hartshead.  However, in 1820 Joseph emigrated to America and was naturalised five years later (Binney, 1886²).  He became a locksmith at Philadelphia until his death on 3 June 1858.  His brothers in Sheffield, John and Thomas, launched Binney Bros, a steel and tool manufacturer, which had a tilt at Heeley (Tweedale, Directory of Sheffield Tool Manufacturers, 2020).

^1. Macdonald, Julie, ‘The Freedom of Election: The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire and the Growth of Radicalism in Sheffield, 1784-1792’ (Sheffield University PhD, 2 vols, 2005)

². Binney, Charles J F, Genealogy of the Binney Family in the United States (Albany, NY, 1886)