Thomas Fretwell was born in Sheffield in 1817 and launched a career as a razor smith by 1841, when he was working in the Philadelphia district of the town.  Mrs Fretwell was a straw hat maker.  In 1849 and 1852, Fretwell was a razor manufacturer listed in Cumberland Street.  He briefly moved to Dixon’s Yard in Silver Street, but by the end of the 1850s was in Wellington Street.  His firm was now named Thomas Fretwell & Sons, manufacturer of fine razors and a general merchant.  In the 1860s, it was based in Union Street and Fretwell combined razor making with work as a provision dealer.  His last address as a razor smith was in Summerfield Street, but after 1881 he was no longer listed.   Thomas Fretwell, ‘retired razor manufacturer’, died on 19 April 1902, aged 85.  He was buried in the General Cemetery, but his death does not appear to have been recorded in the newspapers.  His widow, Carolyn Gautier Fretwell, died on 6 August 1907, aged 89, and was buried in the same grave.