This company originated with Thomas Hancock (c.1790-1849), who made razors in Radford Place in the late 1830s and early 1840s.   (A Thomas Hancock, pen-knife manufacturer, was also listed in Attercliffe, 1828-9, and White Croft, 1833.)  Thomas was probably the brother of Samuel Hancock and after about 1837 they operated Hancock Bros, cutlery manufacturers, Peacroft.  This was dissolved in 1842, when the partnership filed for bankruptcy.  Thomas Hancock & Co was listed as a manufacturer of razors, pen, and pocket knives, and ‘all kinds’ of sailors’ knives, in Arundel Street between 1845 and 1860, with the directories in 1852, 1856, and 1860 carrying an advertisement.  Thomas Hancock, 39 Arundel Street, died on 1 August 1849, aged 59.   He was buried in St Peter’s Churchyard.  His wife, Teresa, apparently continued the business (she was enumerated as a ‘table knife manufacturer’ in the 1851 Census), with the help of her nephew James Bell, a bookkeeper.  In 1851, Bell was also living at 39 Arundel Street.  Teresa died on 9 May 1855 (aged 61).  She was buried in the General Cemetery.  James Bell, ‘spring knife manufacturer’, died on 4 June 1857, aged 35.  He, too, was buried in the General Cemetery.  By 1861, John Amory had occupied 39 Arundel Street and described his enterprise as ‘late Hancock & Co’.