James Farrer (1832-1894) was apparently the son of Joel Farrer (d.1837), a fork grinder, and Sarah.  Trained in that trade at Thomas Turner & Co, in 1866 James established himself as a buff and glazer manufacturer.  He made the grinding and polishing wheels, which were essential for cutlery manufacture.  He began in Turner Street, then moved to a house / workshop at 57 Cambridge Street, where in 1871 he employed one boy.  In 1881, his workforce was one man and two boys.  He later lived at Albert Road, Heeley, and died on 24 February 1894, aged 62.  He was buried in Norton cemetery, leaving £1,410 to his widow, Sarah Ann.  His eldest son, James Edward Farrer (1859-1920), inherited the business and was soon joined by the founder’s other sons: Frederick William and Ernest Harry.  Farrer’s became ‘Ltd’ in 1909 (capital £14,000).  Its scattered workshops at Burgess Street (Wentworth Works), Wellington Street, and Barker’s Pool, were soon centralised at Devonshire Works, Division Street.  In 1916, the firm produced an illustrated Jubilee history.  The photographs gave a good idea of the cluttered and cramped environment of Sheffield’s backstreet workshops.

Ernest Harry died on 22 May 1915, leaving £3,258.  James E. Farrer, of Saltergate, Bamford, died at Clarkehouse Road on 20 February 1920, aged 60.  He was buried in Ecclesall, leaving £8,485.  The other brother, Frederick William, had started a firm in Barkers’ Pool as a polishing wheel manufacturer and leather merchant.  R. W. Hutchinson (James Edward’s son-in-law) became managing director of James Farrer & Sons Ltd.  In 1946, on the firm’s 80th birthday, Hutchinson stated: ‘No matter how mechanisation may bring about changes in the cutlery industry, there can be no substitute for grinding and polishing’ (Sheffield Telegraph, 31 December 1946).  A description of glazer manufacture at Farrer’s is in the biography of Eddie Chapman.   In 1956, the company celebrated its 90th anniversary, with Hutchinson still in post (Quality, September 1956).  But the next year, Farrer’s was acquired by felt and polishing bob manufacturer Cooper & Co (Birmingham) Ltd (Quality, July 1958).