Paul Joseph Frédéric Mitton (1855-1922) was born in Paris, the son of Alexandre Mitton and his wife, Reine.  The family came from Châttelerault, which was known for the manufacture of cutlery and swords.  By the early 1880s, Paul Mitton had moved to London, where he opened an agency at 69 Oxford Street.  He imported preserved vegetables in tins and jars; bridle bits and reins; sheep shears; and heating dishes for the table.  He also sold his patented aerated water syphons and garden pumps.  In 1891, he was listed in the London Post Office Directory as a manufacturer and patentee of French marble and fancy clocks, 269 Rue St Honoré, Paris (Day, Mitton & Cie), and conserves alimentaires, at a factory at Châttelerault.  He also had showrooms at 41 Wool Exchange, Coleman Street, London, from where he marketed seltzogenes and syphons, M.C.  pruning shears, and his patented ‘Siren’ garden pump.  In 1893,  Paul Mitton registered in Paris a trade mark for cutlery ‘MEXEUR & CIE’ (above the word, Châttelerault); and another mark for secateurs (‘MC’).

In 1895, Paul Mitton married at All Saints, Newmarket, Ellen Mary Ann ‘Nellie’ Jennings (1870-1935), eldest daughter of John Jennings, a corn merchant’s agent.  During the 1890s, Mitton continued to trade at Coleman Street in watches and clocks, syphons, French incandescent lamps, and secateurs.  He described himself as the sole agent for ‘Mexeur’, ‘Mitton & Cie’, ‘MAC’, ‘Swords’, and ‘Frog’ brands of pruning shears.   However, in 1910 he was insolvent.  Somehow the family firm continued and in the Census (1911) Paul Mitton was described as a French hardware agent (‘manager’), living with his family at Holloway Road, London.  When he died at Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire, on 12 September 1922, Mitton’s was still at Coleman Street (and Paris).

The business passed to Mitton’s widow, Ellen Mary Ann, and their sons and daughters: Beeche Allen Kathleen (1896-1970), Roland Alexander Jennings Louis (1898-1971), Maurice Paul Jennings (1899-1972), and Marguerite Marie Louise Ada Celestine (1901-1980).   In the 1920s, Paul Mitton & Co advertised a range of ‘MEXEUR’ cooks’ and kitchen knives (stamped ‘France’) and a variety of ‘MEXEUR’ secateurs.   In 1930, Beeche withdrew from the partnership and emigrated to Peekskill, New York (where her mother, Ellen Mary, died in 1935).   Marguerite left the business in 1937.  Henceforth, Roland and Maurice operated Paul Mitton & Co, which was described as a merchant and manufacturer, dealing in steel shears, gardening tools, and cutlery. 

Mitton’s also marketed sturdy clasp knives – such as the one in the Hawley Collection – with a lamb foot blade, shackle, and black composite checkered handle.  These would have been made in the twentieth century and were probably factored from Sheffield.  After the Second World War, Mitton’s (by now a private limited company) advertised a range of butchers’ knives and steels, besides trade knives and tools (such as paint scrapers and putty knives).  These were stamped ‘MEXEUR & CIE’ and advertised as ‘Made in Sheffield’.   By the 1960s, Mitton’s (still at Coleman Street) began to specialise in ‘SABATIER’ cooks’ knives, which were imported from France (presumably via its Paris office).  The firm, though, maintained links with Sheffield.  In 1965, Maurice Mitton supplied 300 traditional mustard spoons to the new Grosvenor House hotel in Sheffield.  These were made in bone in the Oise district of France, where two elderly craftsmen were all that remained of a traditional industry (Herald Express, 24 December 1965).

By the end of the 1960s, Mitton’s had relocated to a new London address – Little Britain – which was close to Smithfield Market.   The firm concentrated on the sale of Sabatier professional knives and other catering equipment.   Roland died on 5 March 1971, leaving £12,619, and was cremated at Hendon Cemetery, London.  His brother, Maurice, died on 12 May 1972, leaving £12,217.  In the late twentieth century, their former firm became increasingly involved in the sale of catering equipment and was absorbed by ABE Catering Equipment Ltd.  By 1994, though, the ‘MEXEUR et CIE’ trade mark had passed to Therias et L’Économe, a maker of Sabatier knives in Thiers.  This firm became part of the Guy Degrenne group in 2015, which closed the Thiers factory in 2018.