William Broomhead and John Tarrand Thomas (1799-1880) were merchants in Birmingham and Sheffield from the early 1830s.  Broomhead was apparently from Birmingham.  John T. Thomas had been born in Sheffield on 24 November 1799 and baptised at Queen Street Chapel.  He was the son of Lewis Thomas and his wife, Jane.  Lewis had been involved with the Harwoods, before operating his own merchant concern in George Street in the 1820s.  He brought his son into the firm, but Lewis Thomas & Son was dissolved in 1830.  After Lewis Thomas died in 1833, his son joined William Broomhead and opened offices in Sheffield (South Street) and Birmingham.  They exported steel tools, razors, pocket knives, and hunting knives to South America and the USA.   One Bowie knife stamped ‘Celebrated American Hunting Knife’ is featured in Adams et al (1990)¹.   A similar knife is shown in Hayden-Wright (2008)², but may be a modern copy.  

Broomhead & Thomas was dissolved in 1838, when Thomas withdrew and left Sheffield.  Broomhead continued alone, but losses in the Mexican trade led to his bankruptcy (Birmingham Journal, 7 October 1843).   John T. Thomas, however, became a wealthy Brazilian merchant, who later made donations to the Deakin Institution (see Deakin Bros).  He died on 21 April 1880, aged 80, at Cambridge House, Ladbroke Grove, Kensington Park, London.  He left under £50,000.  The Thomas family grave is in Ecclesall churchyard.

^1. Adams, W, Voyles, J  B, and Moss, T, The Antique Bowie Knife Book (Conyers, Georgia, 1990)

^2. Hayden-Wright, David, The Heritage of English Knives (Atglen, PA, 2008)