This family appeared in the Sheffield directory (1787) as manufacturers of pocket knives in Heeley.  The cutlers were: Amos Memmott (trade mark ‘Y’ and reversed ‘G’); George Memmott (trade mark ‘M’, ‘G’, and dagger device); and Samuel Memmott (trade mark ‘RUSO’).

Walter George Memmott (1845-1892) was the son of William Memmott and his wife Ann. Walter’s father was a saw maker in Arundel Lane, but he was trained as a silver finisher (later working as a spoon and fork polisher).  Between 1872 and 1881, Walter operated in Charles Street as an electro-plate manufacturer.  In 1881, he employed five men and two boys.  Memmott lived in Woodseats, with his wife Mary Emma and several sons (Arthur Joseph Rawstone, Walter George, Herbert, William James, and Harry), who later became the Memmott ‘brothers’.  However, in 1881 Walter G. Memmott became insolvent with debts over £1,000 (against assets of £360) and his business was liquidated.  He was soon trading again in Stanley Works (Backfields) and Pool Works (Burgess Street), but his business ceased in 1884.  Three years later, he was jailed for three months for receiving stolen cutlery (Sheffield Independent, 14 July 1887).  He died in Albert Road, Heeley, on 1 July 1892, aged 47, and was buried in the General Cemetery.

In 1894, Memmott Bros, silversmith, was founded by his sons at 20 Cambridge Street.  It continued to operate from that address into the twentieth century.  In 1948, W.G. Memmott’s sons – Henry, Herbert, and Walter George – still managed the business.  It became defunct in about 1950, though Herbert (silversmith, Little Norton Lane) and Walter G. (electro-plate manufacturer, Birch Farm Avenue) were listed in 1951.