Thomas Raynes (1858-1930) was a scissors manufacturer (a ‘putter-together’, according to the Census in 1911). Little is known about his parentage or early life. He may have been the son of an obscure scissors smith Thomas Raynes (1824-1875) and his wife, Elizabeth née Goodlad (d. 1888). But the Census offers no evidence to confirm that. Thomas stated that his business was launched with only £90 capital in 1878 (though one advertisement has 1874).  He first appeared in a directory in 1883 in Eyre Street, with a residence in Cemetery Road. By 1889, the enterprise was based at Permanent Scissor Works at 171 Eyre Street.

Raynes’s scissors were ‘warranted free from soft blades and to cut’. He had forging hearths on the ground floor, with the finishing shops, offices and packing sections above. It was a typical backstreet ‘Works’. Raynes ‘puffed’ his firm in an advertisement in the Foreign Buyers’ Guide and Consuls’ List (1895). He described himself as a manufacturer of table, pocket, sportsman’s knives, and electro-plate – all products that would probably have had to be factored.  The trade mark was ‘PERMANENT’.  Raynes’s customers seem to have been mainly in England, Scotland, and Ireland.  The enterprise was unprofitable. In 1899, Raynes was bankrupt with debts of £733 (Sheffield Independent, 6 October 1899). He continued to trade and moved briefly to Hallam Lane/Earl Street, but after about 1907 his work/home address was again 171 Eyre Street. 

Thomas Raynes’s son – Thomas Jun. (1881-1946) – became a traveller for his father and later represented other Sheffield firms. He travelled around the UK and soon acquired a reputation for ‘slipperiness’. In 1906, he was twice charged at Sheffield police courts with various financial irregularities (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 13 July, 28 September 1906). These charges were dismissed. In early 1907, Thomas Raynes (‘the younger’), a traveller from Sheffield, served time in Wakefield prison on a charge of ‘bastardy’ (fathering or not supporting an illegitimate child). Later that year, Thomas Raynes Jun. faced further charges of conspiracy and obtaining goods by false pretences. Under the headline, ‘High-Handed Swindler’, his arrest was described in The Manchester Courier, 1 November 1907. Apparently, he instructed his father ‘to charter a special and come to London, and engage Neil, K.C. at any price’. He was sentenced at the Old Bailey to three years’ penal servitude. 

His father’s business was still struggling, but he repaid most of his debts and succeeded in his application for discharge from bankruptcy.  According to Raynes, this was necessary to enable him to take a position as a manager. ‘His misfortunes were the result of domestic troubles’ (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 26 May 1911).  Raynes Sen. had care of his son’s wife, Edith Ellen née Turner (1877-1975), and their ten-year-old daughter, Hattie. In 1910, Thomas Jun. had left for Philadelphia under an assumed name (John Thomas Raynes). In 1916, he applied to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force (presumably because his criminal record barred him from serving in the English military). 

During the War, Thomas Raynes Sen. continued his scissors business at 171 Eyre Street. He lived at a modest terraced house, 41 Southgrove Road. After the War, the history of this enterprise became even more complicated, when it appears Benjamin Ellis acquired the rights to the name ‘Thomas Raynes’ and the ‘PERMANENT’ trade mark and started to trade in Eyre Street at Permanent Works. By 1921, Ellis, too, was out of business. In July 1923, a new entity appeared: Thomas Raynes & Son Ltd, with £3,000 capital, and with Thomas and his son as directors, alongside J. W. Makin (a file manufacturer). This private company was established to market stainless steel table knives by trading on the Raynes’ name (the company was expressly forbidden to engage in the manufacture of scissors). Its address was 36 St Thomas Street. In 1924, the new company became embroiled in a dispute with steel maker Thomas Firths & Sons.  Firth’s charged that Raynes’ had fraudulently sold table knives marked ‘Firth Stainless’, when the steel had been obtained from elsewhere. The proceedings filled three columns in The Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 10 January 1924. Thomas Raynes Sen. and his son – who had returned from North America – defended the firm’s actions. But the case went against them and the company was fined £100 (plus £50 costs). 

That year Thomas Raynes & Son Ltd was wound up.  At the creditors’ meeting, surprise was expressed that debts over £5,000 had accrued after only six months’ trading. Criticism was particularly levelled at Thomas Raynes Jun., who had withdrawn over £1,000 from the business in ‘expenses’ (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 5 February 1924). The assets were acquired by Cotterill & Co.

Thomas Sen. died suddenly at 41 Southgrove Road on 23 March 1930, aged 72, leaving £5,448.  He was buried at City Road Cemetery. Despite his patchy business record, he seems to have retained the respect of his employees and others in the business community. The press report of his funeral noted that he was a loyal Churchman (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 27 March 1930).  He left £500 to his granddaughter Hattie and the residue of the property in trust to his daughter-in-law, Edith Ellen. ‘Thomas Raynes’ continued to be listed at Eyre Street. In 1935, ‘Thomas Raynes’ – presumably a resurrection of the name of the former scissors firm – was registered as a private limited company (capital £1,000) by James Fairclough Gee and Reginald L. Gee (see Gee & Holmes).

In the late 1920s, Thomas Raynes Jun. had returned to the USA. He settled in Chicago, remarried, and became a salesman of musical instruments.  He made repeated requests for American citizenship. He died in Chicago on 23 April 1946, aged 64. Edith Ellen continued to live at No. 41 Southgrove Road until her death on 25 September 1975. She left £8,078.