© Ken Hawley Collection Trust - K.0350
Harrison & Co was a cutlery and steel merchant, which had an office at Broad Street Chambers, Sheffield. It advertised stainless dessert knives, table knives, and tea knives (Nottingham Journal & Express, 6 September 1919). It was probably launched soon after the end of the First World War. However, by 1921 its owner – John Alfred Harrison – had joined Charles Albert Prosser and Frederick Peat in the formation of Prosser & Co (Sheffield) Ltd. Peat was a salesman. Charles Albert Prosser (1860-1936) was a ‘master silversmith … recognised by manufacturers as a clever silver fluter and chaser’ (Derbyshire Times & Chesterfield Herald, 13 March 1936). Capital was £5,000 and the firm had an office and workshop (Proseco Works) in Trippet Lane (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 26 March 1921).
The firm struggled. It advertised dolls and toys; and sold cookers as an agent for London Warming Co. Within months, Prosser’s had been liquidated and its tools, grinding machines, and unfinished goods offered for sale (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 24 October 1921). John A. Harrison, of 579 Staniforth Road, was personally bankrupted with debts of £3,337 against assets of £2,207. He attributed his failure to a slump in trade, losses on contracts, and domestic expenses (his wife had been ill and had died). He had also partnered George H. Kaye, but stated that he had not been paid his agreed salary (Sheffield Daily Independent, 5 August 1921). Harrison & Co was not apparently listed in any Sheffield directory. Curiously, the only reference to John Alfred Harrison at 579 Staniforth Road is as a professor of music. He has proved an elusive individual to trace. Charles Albert Prosser died on 3 March 1936, aged 75, at Peakley Hill, Barlow. He left a widow (his second wife) and two sons and a daughter. His funeral was at Intake (City Road) Cemetery.