James Chesterman (1792-1867) was born at Colebrook, Buckinghamshire, the son of John (a net and tent maker).  Accounts of James’s early life vary, but he apparently worked for James Dixon & Sons as a powder flask maker – a trade he pursued independently in the 1820s.  By the 1830s, he was manufacturing his patented spring for rewinding measuring tapes.  In the 1840s, Chesterman partnered John Priston Cutts in the manufacture of metallic measuring tapes.  By 1860, James Chesterman & Co was based at Bow Works, Nursery Street.  The Sheffield Flood in 1864 severely damaged Chesterman’s premises (he was awarded £538 compensation) and led to a move to a new Bow Works at Pomona Street.  Here James Chesterman & Co manufactured patented measuring devices and engineers’ tools, though he had cutlery links.   

In 1858, Chesterman was assigned his trade mark (‘JC’ inside a bow) as a maker of scissors and shears by the Company of Cutlers.  An advertisement in 1868 listed scissors, pen, and pocket cutlery.  Few, if any, of these were made by Chesterman.  Hallam (1984) stated that scissors made by Chesterman survive, but scissors were not mentioned in an 1865 price list (though they were on the cover).  Interestingly, Chesterman registered silver marks in Sheffield in 1861 and 1885.  He apparently kept his options open.  Another link with cutlery was the manufacture of ruler pocket-knives (White, 2009¹).  These were made by several Sheffield makers – such as Ibberson and Watts – and included a ‘Chesterman’ fold-out metal rule or rule inscribed on the metal scales (sometimes both).   

James Chesterman, Broomgrove, died on 25 April 1867, aged 75.  He left under £10,000 and was buried in the unconsecrated section of the General Cemetery.  His son, William (1837-1930), inherited the business, which had become a well-known maker of measuring tapes, rulers, and land chains.  He became Master Cutler in 1880, though by then Chesterman’s had ceased advertising scissors and knives.  In 1892, the firm became a private limited company with £75,000 capital.   In 1963, the company merged with John Rabone & Sons Ltd to form Rabone Chesterman Ltd.  In 1990, it was absorbed by the Stanley tool group and Bow Works became offices for an insurance group.   A more detailed history is available in G. Tweedale, Directory of Sheffield Tool Manufacturers, 1740-2018 (2020).

^1. White, Richard D, ‘Ruler Knives’, Knife World 35 (January 2009)