Sheffield-born Edwin Sykes (cv.1803-1869) began work as a ‘master scissors grinder’ in the late 1820s.  He was listed first at Lambert Street.  By the end of the 1830s, he was a fine scissors manufacturer at Wentworth Street, Port Mahon.  His dwellings and workshops later extended to Watery Lane, which was a narrow backstreet parallel with Wentworth Street.  Sykes was a typical ‘little mester’, who employed (according to the Census in 1851) three men.  He had two apprentices living at his house at that time.  

Working and social conditions in the district were tough.  On one occasion, the floor beneath two of Sykes’ grinders collapsed with a crash, due to a defective joist (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 10 February 1866).  Sykes also had confrontations with local trades unionists, who ‘rattened’ his wheel by removing tools and bands.  Sykes related these events in 1867, when he testified before the Royal Commission on the Sheffield Outrages (Pollard, 1971¹).  Sykes himself had once been charged with rattening, however (Sheffield Independent, 23 November 1839).  Sykes’ first wife, Alice, died on 10 October 1864, aged 59.  A fortnight or so later, he married eighteen-year-old Sarah Elizabeth Sawyer.  In 1868, Sykes suffered a serious assault, when he was hit over the head with a poker and robbed (Sheffield Independent, 12 February 1868).  His assailants, Annie Casey and Catherine W. Glover, were sentenced to seven years and five years penal servitude, respectively.

Edwin’s wife, Sarah Elizabeth, died on 21 March 1869, aged 22.  Edwin died on 26 July 1869, aged 66.  His estate, which included property in Wentworth Street and a grinding wheel, steam engine, and workshops fronting Watery Lane, was valued at under £3,000.  Edwin, Alice, and Sarah Elizabeth were buried at Burngreave (the latter in a separate grave).
 

^1. Pollard, S, The Sheffield Outrages: Report Presented to the Trades Union Commissioners in 1867 (New York, 1971)