In 1851, James Lowe was a 38 year-old ‘manufacturer master’ employing 25 men.  In the following year, he was listed as a pen and pocket knife manufacturer at 73 Eyre Street.  (Richard Lowe who had worked at 167 Eyre Street in 1849, may have been a relative.)  In 1858, the business appeared as James Lowe & Sons, Eyre Street, in a Birmingham trade advertisement.  Another advertisement in 1861 stated that amongst its products was a ‘newly-invented pencil knife suitable for all countries’.  Lowe, who was aged 48 in 1861, employed three men.  After the early 1860s, Lowe moved to St Mary Street and was listed there in 1865 and 1879.  James Lowe died in Shrewsbury Hospital, Sheffield, on 20 July 1888, aged 76.  His wife, Charlotte, had died on 10 October 1884, aged 74.  Their grave in the General Cemetery also contains the remains of their daughter, Emily, who died on 9 May 1856, aged 14.