From James Lodge catalogue; Hawley Collection - C.4522
James Joseph Lodge (1873-1936) was born in Dublin, the son of James Lodge and his wife, Cecilia Wardell. This Catholic family moved to Sheffield, where James Sen. worked as a printer. They settled in Woodland Street, Walkley. After James Sen.’s death in 1887, aged 40 (he was buried at City Road Cemetery), his widow and children moved to the Solly Street area. The younger James found work as a buffer and then in a cutlery warehouse.
In 1901, he launched his own cutlery and electro-plate enterprise in West Street. It was located in Eyre Lane (1905), Furnival Street (1907), Trafalgar Street (1911), and Arundel Street (1921). By 1922, James Lodge had moved to 216 Solly Street, where he occupied Cambridge Works. This was a compact three-storey factory, built before 1850 on the traditional plan, with workshops and a central courtyard.
Lodge advertised as a maker of ‘all kinds of cutlery’. However, the firm specialised in stainless table knives, cased cutlery sets, and items in EPNS (electro-plated nickel silver). The latter sometimes carried the mark ‘JL Ltd’. James Lodge died at 357 Crookesmoor Road on 8 June 1936, aged 63. He was interred in St Michael’s RC Cemetery in the Rivelin Valley. He left £6,199.
After his death, the business became a private limited company, with £5,000 capital. James’ widow Margaret Lodge (1875-1940) and their sons – Thomas (1909-1997) and James (1912-1969) – were the directors. Thomas later became a renowned radiologist (he was knighted in 1984) and so it was his brother, James, who managed the family firm.
After the Second World War, Lodge’s concentrated on export markets, especially the USA. It continued to market plush-lined cabinets and cased sets of cutlery. ‘SWEETLINE’ was sometimes used as a trade name. During the 1950s, Pinder Bros apparently acquired a controlling interest in James Lodge Ltd, because of its overseas connections. In 1965, Pinder’s registered James Lodge Pewterware Ltd as a trading entity. The Lodge family, though, seems to have retained an interest. James Lodge was described as a company director when he died on 9 October 1969 at the 16th green of the Dore & Totley Golf Club. He lived at Slayleigh Avenue, Fulwood. He was buried at Abbey Lane Cemetery, leaving £11,757.
On 17 January 1977, The London Gazette reported the liquidation of James Lodge Ltd by its director M. S. Lodge. This was presumably James’ widow, Marie Stella Lodge. At her death in 1992, her estate was valued at £141,236. A plan of Cambridge Works is contained in Turner (1978)*. After 2000, the factory was renovated as student accommodation.
* Turner, C. A., A Sheffield Heritage: An Anthology of Photographs and Words of the Cutlery Craftsmen (Sheffield, 1978)