© Ken Hawley Collection Trust - K.0678
This firm originated in the little-mester operation of knife-grinder Herbert Housley (1899-1977). The latter’s father was a file cutter, but the Housleys had been knife grinders for several generations. Herbert (who married Annie née Dunn) rented a ‘wheel’ at the Randall Street factory of R. F. Mosley. They had three sons, of whom two – Herbert ‘Bert’ (b. 1925) and Barry (b. 1931) – were to join their father’s business. Herbert Sen. had a team of eight or nine workers (five of whom were skilled grinders) based in Randall Street. Bert joined the family firm as a 14 year-old apprentice in 1939.
During the Second World War, Herbert Sen. became a fully-fledged cutlery manufacturer with additional workshops in Trustwell Works, John Street, and then in Enterprise Works (formerly occupied by J. G. Graves) at the corner of St Mary’s Road and Shoreham Street. In 1949, he expanded into workshops at 41 Arundel Street. The firm was styled H. Housley & Sons, which recognised the contribution of sons Bert and Barry (who soon took over). Bert managed the Arundel Street operations, which employed about 20 workers (with a similar number at Enterprise Works). Turnover grew from £46,670 in 1950 to over £126,768 in 1965; pre-tax profits from £2,760 to £13,780. In the early 1950s, a six-day working week was the norm – even for the management – and growth was financed from profits rather than borrowing. The family owners paid themselves modestly. Bert commented later: ‘With the benefit of hindsight this policy probably held back the growth of our business’ (Housley, 2011). In 1962, Housley’s became a limited company, with Bert as managing director. When redevelopment by Sheffield Council began, in 1965 Bert was offered premises at Sidney Works, Matilda Street (in the old factory of James Deakin & Sons). This allowed various manufacturing operations to be integrated under one roof.
In the late 1950s, Bert had also developed links with the Irish Cutlery Co Ltd in Enniscorthy, County Wexford. In 1968, he acquired a controlling interest in this firm, which manufactured stainless steel spoons and forks. However, the abolition of Ireland’s protective duties, when that country joined the EEC, hit trade and in 1975 Housley sold the business to Viners. H. Housley & Sons Ltd continued in Sheffield, with Bert and his wife as sole owners. In 1981, they moved to a more suitable factory in Edmund Road. Bert used his experience in operating grinding and glazing machines to adapt to mass-produced stainless steel cutlery. It had once produced mainly butchers’, chefs’, and shoe-makers’ knives sold to the trade. But Housley’s began to specialise in flatware, with registered designs, such as ‘NYCRAFT’ and ‘PEARLCRAFT’, which it sold directly to wholesalers in the UK and around the world. Pinchbecks became the firm’s London agent (see Wraggs). Other trade names included ‘TABLECRAFT’, ‘GOLD SEAL’, and ‘ELEGANCE’.
Turnover had reached £1.5 million by 1984, but in the following year Bert Housley shrewdly sold the business and retired. By 1991, his former firm had £2m in debts, and two years later appointed a receiver. Bert maintained an interest in the history of the industry and also became involved in charitable work (spurred by his experience in caring for his son, who suffered from Downs Syndrome). He had retained ownership of the Edmund Street building and this funded his charities. He published Back to the Grindstone (1998), which recalled his upbringing in Upperthorpe, with its poverty, camaraderie, hard-drinking – and craftsmanship. He wrote: ‘The grinders of Sheffield were both unique and special, a breed apart: independent, proud, sometimes a trifle eccentric, and always suspicious of outsiders: but they were, as we say locally, the salt of the earth – the greatest people in the world’. In the Millennium Honours List, Bert Housley was awarded an MBE for his services to the local community. A second instalment of his autobiography, Grindstones Gather Moss, was published in 2011.