William Goddard (1834-1929)  was the son of George (a table knife hafter) and his wife, Ann. He was listed as a table knife hafter in the Sheffield directory (1905) at Charlotte Street.

It appears that he was inadvertantly responsible for causing a fire at the premises of C. Parkin & Son on Charlotte Road, where he rented a workshop. According to the report in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph (21 Dec 1899), William was working on xylonite handles and a spark from his handle- boring machine ignited xylonite dust. Xylonite is highly flammable and the fire quickly spread through the workshop. The Fire Brigade were able to put the fire out before it destroyed the rest of the premises but Goddard's workshop was gutted.

In the Census, William Goddard invariably appears as either a table knife cutler or hafter; and a worker, not an employer.  In the Census (1911), his sons George and Harold were also described as table knife cutlers and are understood to have worked with their father.

Additional information and images courtesy of Vanessa Myers, the great, great grand-daughter of Wiliam Goddard.