The Berrisford brothers – Thomas William (1879-1958), Frank (1880-1955), and Leonard Arthur (1882-1940?) – were the sons of Thomas Berrisford and his first wife, Harriet.  Thomas was a grocer and baker at Burslem, near Stoke-on-Trent.  He employed six men in 1881, though at his death in 1905 he left only £15.  In 1909, Thomas William and Frank as Berrisford Bros opened the ‘The Osborne Tea Rooms’ at 9 Queen Street, Burslem.  Thomas William, who had followed his father’s trade, seems to have taken the lead in organising the venture.  At 35 Queen Street, Frank also opened a boot and shoe shop.  Leonard Arthur may have emigrated to Canada.  

According to The Staffordshire Sentinel, 16 December 1909, the tea rooms ‘are most tastefully furnished throughout, and the rooms are exceedingly cosy and comfortable.  Here the business man can consume a hurried cold lunch, or he can sit down to a hot dinner and imagine herself at home.  The lady out shopping can add to the enjoyment of her task by obtaining a “good” cup of tea’.   Frank appears to have been running the tea rooms in the early 1920s, when this ‘Firth Brearley’ stainless table knife was probably ordered from an unknown Sheffield maker.  By 1939, Thomas William was living at Newcastle-under-Lyme, when he was a licensed victualler and caterer.  Frank was living at Stoke-on-Trent and was a clerk in an electricity department.