In the 1850s, John Thomas Petty (c.1817-1887) appeared in directories as a grocer and shopkeeper at 58 Garden Street.  He was probably the pen blade forger, who was enumerated in the Census in Solly Street in 1841.  His father was John Petty, a silver plater and stamper at Solly Street, who died in February 1838 (aged 61); and whose widow, Jane, died on 20 November 1854, aged 72.  By the 1860s, John T. Petty was forging blades again.  In 1868, he advertised as a maker of farriers’ and oyster knives.  He established a thriving business, which later passed to his sons (by his wife Sarah):  John Thomas Petty (1848-1931) and Joseph Heald Petty (1856-1920).  In the 1880s, John Petty moved to Crookesmoor Road, where he died, aged 69, on 3 March 1887.  He was buried in the General Cemetery’s unconsecrated section.  He left £2,300. 

Petty’s was towards the top of Garden Street, amongst a complex of workshops, forges, and dwellings.  In 1881, John T. Petty Jun. stated that the firm employed only four men and two females.  However, in the late nineteenth century John and Joseph began expanding the business.  By the mid-1890s, the address was Perth Works, a compact building of three storeys, standing at 60 Garden Street.  The factory could have provided employment for up to a hundred hands, though probably not all the occupants would have worked directly for Petty’s.  The firm built a solid reputation for its butchers’ and trade knives (such as those used by painters, glaziers, plumbers, and cloth workers).  Petty’s trade catalogues also offered table cutlery; ‘Green River’ knives; pocket and sportsman’s knives; and scissors.  The firm made some fine exhibition pocket knives (Hayden-Wright, 2008¹).  Even after the First World War, much of Petty’s output was hand-forged, as befits a firm in Garden Street – a location well known for its cutlery forges.  The corporate mark was a barrel, granted in 1791, with the word ‘MAGNETIC’ used on razors and pocket knives.  By the 1890s, the pig mark of Robert Hallam had been acquired; by 1907, Petty’s had added the marks of William Gregory & Sons; and from the late 1920s, Joseph Mills and its judge’s head mark belonged to Petty.

Joseph Heald Petty, Bower Road, died on 23 January 1920, leaving £20,770.  His brother, John T. Petty, died on 30 July 1931, aged 82, at his home in Elmore Road and was buried in Fulwood Cemetery.  He left £27,124.  The latter’s son, John Bernard Petty (1879-1949), ensured that the firm remained in family hands.  In 1927, he patented a linoleum knife with a handle that closed in the blade (like a modern Stanley Knife).  J.B Petty, who lived in Glebe Road, died on 31 October 1949.  He left £18,314. 

Two descendants continued to operate Perth Works.  They were John Douglas Petty (1895-1961), who was the son of Joseph Heald; and John Reginald Petty (1908-1996), the son of John Bernard.  They converted the firm to limited liability in 1953, with a £10,000 capital.  John Douglas Petty, Ashdene, Ninelands Road, Hathersage, died at The Royal Hospital in Sheffield on 18 May 1961.  He left £27,215.  Perth Works finally closed in 1986 and the site was sold.  It was a fine example of a traditional Sheffield cutlery factory, but its new owner immediately demolished it.  A photograph by the author, taken shortly before the demolition of the factory, can be viewed on PictureSheffield.   Kelham Island Museum has a fine cased display of Petty’s knives.

^1. Hayden-Wright, David, The Heritage of English Knives (Atglen, PA, 2008)