Ralph Hawley (1854-1919) was the son of Ralph Hawley, a cabinet case maker, and his wife, Mary.  He became a maker of butchers’ steels.  He was unemployed and living in St Thomas Street in 1891, but within a couple of years was based at Pool Works, Burgess Street.  By 1911, he was living in Moore Street, with a family that included five sons (two of whom were turners of butchers’ steels) and a daughter (who worked in a cutlery warehouse).  Ralph Hawley, Sutton Street, died on 10 June 1919, aged 64.  He left £255 and the business, Ralph Hawley & Sons at Burgess Street, to his widow, Kate Elizabeth.  In the interwar period, the firm relocated to 23/29 Edward Street.  In 1952, it advertised as a manufacturer of butchers’ steels, scissors, and hand tools in The Ironmonger Diary.  Hawley’s ceased trading in the early 1970s.

The image is of a hacking knife, used by glaziers to chop out old putty in window frames. The back of the blade shows signs of damage where it would have been repeatedly hit by a hammer and the handle of the knife is formed of leather scales, to soften the resulting vibration. The image was kindly provided by Wayne N. Gilbert.