Thomas Law (1717-1775), apprenticed in 1730, was a Freeman in 1738, and became a silver plate and cutlery manufacturer.  In 1749, he supplied the Company of Cutlers in its unprofitable venture into the silver box trade; and in 1751 obliged when the Company requested silver presentation knives and forks for the Secretary of War.  Law was Master Cutler in 1753.  In 1773, he registered one of the first Sheffield silver marks from workshops in Norfolk Street.  In 1774, the firm’s cutlery mark was ‘+LAW’.  As a silverplater, Thomas ‘stood first’ (Roberts, 1849¹), especially for the quality of his silver handles for knives and forks.  He trained some of the best silversmiths (see John Winter; Roberts, Cadman).  His son, Thomas Law Jun., succeeded to Thomas Law & Co (and became an Assay Office Guardian in 1779).  In 1784, a ‘squat vase’ mark was registered for plated goods.  In 1787, ‘+LAW & Co ARGENT’ was the cutlery mark in the local directory.

Thomas Jun. died in London in 1795 (Derby Mercury, 16 July 1795).  His brothers, William and John (bapt.1755-1819), continued Thomas Law & Co.  In 1802, the ‘squat vase’ mark was registered from Baker’s Hill.  John became an Assay Office Guardian in 1795.  A freemason, he was one of the founders of the Royal Brunswick Lodge (Stokes & Iliffe, 1929²).  In 1792, John had married Martha née Spooner.  Their family included Edward (1798-1826), a sculptor, and Joseph (1807-1897), physician to the Sheffield Infirmary.  Business, though, was unprofitable (Crosskey, 2011³).  In 1813, William and John parted company.  John Law, silversmith, died at Baker’s Hill in 1819 and was buried at the parish church on 25 July.  He apparently also operated John Law & Sons.

^1. Roberts, Samuel, Autobiography and Select Remains of the Late Samuel Roberts (London, 1849)

^2. Stokes, J, and Iliffe, J W, Portraits in the Masonic Hall Sheffield (Sheffield, 1929)

^3. Crosskey, Gordon, Old Sheffield Plate: A History of the 18th Century Plated Trade (Sheffield, 2011)