© Ken Hawley Collection Trust - DS.340
A pen and pocket knife manufacturer, John Roberts was born in Sheffield in about 1800. A cutler of that name was based in Norfolk Lane in 1825, though he can be more positively identified after 1828 in Broad Lane. Besides pen knives, he also manufactured Spanish knives (daggers) and push-button automatic (switchblade) knives (Punchard & Fuller, 20121). In the Census (1841), he was enumerated in Siddall Street, living with his wife Mary Ann and their family, besides an apprentice. In 1851, he resided in Wentworth Street, with three of his sons (Joseph J., Edwin Arthur, and Henry George) following him into the trade of spring knife cutler. John Roberts died, aged 55, in Beet Street on 9 July 1855 and was buried in the General Cemetery. In the directory (1862), John Roberts & Sons, Tower Hill, Pye Bank, was listed as a manufacturer of cutlery and fruit knives. His sons, Edwin and Henry later launched E. A. & H. G. Roberts. John’s other son, Elkanah, manufactured ivory fruit knives and paper knives. The latter died, aged 58, on 2 June 1904 at The Royal Hospital and was interred in the General Cemetery.
1. Punchard, Neal, and Fuller, Dan, Art of the Switchblade: The World’s Concourse Examples (Bloomington, Minnesota, 2012)