Thomas Marples was born in Sheffield in 1832, the son of Samuel Marples (1803-1873) and his wife, Mary.  Samuel (who was cousin to William Marples) was a shoe manufacturer and later landlord of the Stag’s Head, Psalter Lane.  By 1851, Thomas was a fruit-knife cutler, living with his parents in Sharrow Moor.  In 1855, he registered a silver mark from Arundel Street.  For fifty years he operated as a specialist in silver pocket fruit-knives from various addresses, but mostly Headford and Milton Streets.  His fine knives, produced with a small team of about five men and two boys, have become collectable (Moore, 2008¹).  By the 1870s, he lived at Holmfield, Kenwood Park Road.  He died at his home in Kenwood, aged 79, on 30 May 1912.  He was buried in Ecclesall churchyard, leaving £87,650.  His wife, Mary Anna, had predeceased him in 1911 and they had no children.  Apparently, William H. Jackson, Mary Anne’s nephew, took over the business, which continued until about the mid-1920s.

^1. Moore, Simon, Pocket Fruit Knives: A Synopsis of Their History from the United Kingdom, France, Northern Europe and USA (Slough, 2008)