The name Perigo was rare in Sheffield in the nineteenth century.  It is believed to have been the name of French ironworkers, who settled in the area in the 1570s.  This branch of the family can be traced to John Perigo, a stag scale cutter, who worked for William Beardshaw in Garden Street.   In 1820, he had married Sarah Bingham (1796-1849) and they had a son: John (1832-1902).   John Sen. ended his life in 1841.  An inquest at The Ball, Garden Street, heard that on the previous Tuesday morning [9 February 1841] John Perigo ‘was about his work as usual, but about nine o’clock was found hanging in one of the outhouses, and quite dead.  It appeared he had been in low spirits in consequence of the prospect of being thrown out of employment, by the badness of trade’(Sheffield Independent, 13 February 1841).  The verdict was ‘Insanity’.  He was buried in St George’s churchyard.

His son, John, went into partnership as a cutlery manufacturer with Frank William Marriot (formerly of Globe Works of John Walters), but this was dissolved in 1867.   By 1876, John Perigo was listed in his own right as a manufacturer of ‘every description of table cutlery’, trade knives, pen and pocket knives, and spear point and Bowie knives.  His address was Arctic Works in Rockingham Street.  The trade mark was a griffin.   

In 1855, John had married Elizabeth Westby (1834-1894) and they had three sons: John Thomas (1856-1933), William (1858-1935), and Arthur (1863-1950).   At the start of the 1890s, John was a partner in Perigo & Riding (a coal merchant based at Heeley railway station).  He continued the cutlery business, but handed over to his sons.  By 1893, Perigo Brothers, a table cutlery manufacturer, was listed at Rockingham Street.  The partners were the founder’s sons, John Thomas and William.  (Their brother, Arthur, was a schoolmaster.)  John Perigo, Crookesmoor Road, died on 16 July 1902, aged 69, and was buried in the General Cemetery.  He left £572.

Perigo Bros, under John Thomas and William, traded at Rockingham Street into the twentieth century.  John T. Perigo died suddenly at Upper House, Hayfield on 25 March 1933, aged 75, and was buried at Walkley cemetery.  He left £1,350.  His brother, William, of Brooklands Avenue, Fulwood, died on 24 November 1935, having retired only eight weeks earlier (Sheffield Independent, 28 November 1935).  His funeral was at Walkley.  His estate was valued at £760.  Management of Perigo Bros had passed to William’s son, Arthur (1883-1954).  During the Second World War, the firm relocated to Balmoral Works, Matilda Street, from where it sold palette, putty, and table knives.  By 1948, the firm had been registered as Perigo Brothers (Sheffield) Ltd, Edward Street.  Arthur died on 30 January 1954, and was buried at Crookes Cemetery.  He left £2,522.  Arthur’s son, Donald (1914-1988), had already joined the family business (in 1939, he had described himself as ‘chargehand  cutler’).  Perigo Bros was listed at Edward Street, until it was struck off in 1972.