Richard Elliott was born in Sheffield on 23 January 1805, the son of a barber in Scotland Street.  His father died when he was about twelve and two years later Elliott became apprentice to Henry Lee, a table knife hafter, who worked for John Eyre & Co.  Elliott became general manager and clerk in the warehouse of the firm (which became James Smith & Brother, Coalpit Lane).  In 1837, when this business failed, Elliott used his own capital to buy it.  His workshop was at the bottom of Coalpit Lane (Cambridge Street).  Elliott initially relied on outworkers, but as trade expanded, he moved to a factory in Fitzwilliam Street, where the cutlers worked on the premises. 

After occupying workshops in Chester Lane and Wellington Street, Elliott moved to more permanent premises at 151 Arundel Street in 1860.  He then employed 12 men and 6 boys.  In 1871, the workers included nine men, a woman, and a girl; by 1881, the workforce was fifteen.  Elliott specialised in table cutlery, which he stamped with the word ‘EXTRA’ (once Smith & Brother’s mark).  Elliott ‘got together a very nice connection, but made no effort to make it a large concern, preferring to have a moderate trade, and all the work done under his personal supervision, so as to maintain the reputation he enjoyed ... His motto was ‘quality’.  He preferred to be content with earning a livelihood by doing the best possible work, even if it had to be sold at an inadequate price’ (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 18 June 1892).  Elliott died on 16 June 1892, aged 87, at the home of his son at Rishworth Grammar School, in Halifax.  He left £353.  Two years earlier, he had sold his business to the adjacent Arundel Street firm of John Sellers, which continued using the name and mark.