This firm was established in Grimesthorpe in 1843 by John Wigfall (1819-1897), a maker of butchers’ knives.   He was apparently the son of John, a grinder, and Elizabeth.  By the early 1850s, Wigfall had moved to Howard Street and begun the manufacture of table knives.  The business expanded:  the eighteen workers in 1851 had increased to 59 by 1861; and to 72 in 1871.   By the end of the 1870s – when the firm occupied Auckland Works in Eldon Street – shoe, bread, glaziers’, farriers’, and table and butchers’ knives were sold, besides pocket and sportsman’s knives.  John Sidney Wigfall (1851-1905) joined his father as partner.  

In 1881, the workforce was 50 men, six boys, and seven women.  The company advertised electro-plated goods and registered silver marks in Sheffield in 1890 and 1892.   John Wigfall died at Wilkinson Street on 25 September 1897, aged 77, and was buried at Grimesthorpe Wesleyan Chapel.  His probate was resworn at £7,226.   On 21 March 1905, John S. Wigfall was run over by a lorry outside North Shields railway station.   He died in the Jubilee Infirmary on 30 March 1905, aged 54, and was buried in an unconsecrated grave in the General Cemetery.  He left £6,194.  The firm ceased trading and its mark – ‘BONA FIDE’ – was acquired by Joseph Elliot.