Apparently, Thomas Rudd (c.1819-1873) started his business in 1844 as Rudd & Wainwright, Eyre Street (where Thomas lived).  In 1845, this partnership received a favourable mention for its scissors at the League Bazaar, Convent Garden.  It displayed a case of scissors (valued at £30), which included one pair with solid steel bows filed out to represent Cobden and Bright, ‘Free Trade Champions’.  A ‘better specimen of Sheffield manufacture in scissors was never produced’ (Sheffield Independent, 26 April 1845).   The ‘Wainwright’ is not identified in the directory (1845), though Charles Wainwright and Joseph Wainwright – scissors ‘manufacturers’ – may be candidates.  Certainly, the Rudd & Wainwright partnership was brief.  By 1849, Rudd was listed alone in Tudor Street, with a residence in St Philip’s Road.  By the 1850s, he was making scissors in Ecclesall Road, while running a grocery business.   In the early 1860s, Rudd’s address was Victoria Scissor Works, Sycamore Street, where he advertised as a maker of ‘Fine scissors, tailors’ and American shears, horse-clipping, pruning, paper and flower scissors, and button hooks’.  He occasionally worked as a grocer.  In 1867, he opened a shop in Change Alley, selling cutlery and fancy leather goods.  By 1868, when he advertised in the local directory, he was living in Wostenholm Road.  By 1871, his next business address was Norfolk Street and he was living in Winter Street.  

Thomas Rudd was apparently married twice.  A family relative has suggested that Thomas Rudd’s original name (when first married) had been Hattersley.  His second wife was Frances (1834-1886), a scissors burnisher, who was the daughter of Joseph Gibbins.  Rudd had several sons from his marriages, including Charles Edward (1853-1938), Albert Edward (1870-?), and William Henry Rudd (1854-1941).  Thomas Rudd died on 10 November 1873, aged 54, after ‘a long and painful illness’, and was buried in the General Cemetery.  He left under £450.  Frances was buried in the same grave, aged 53, on 6 August 1886.  

The business was restyled Thomas Rudd & Sons and by 1876 was in Norfolk Street, with Charles E. Rudd as the senior partner.  Frederick H. Rudd was a scissors manufacturer at Regent Works, Regent Street, while running a tobacconist’s shop.   About 1900, the business apparently disappeared from directories, though by 1905 Charles E. Rudd was listed as a scissors manufacturer at 48 (back of) Eyre Street.  Albert E. Rudd was a manager at an unidentified scissors factory.   By 1911, Thomas Rudd & Sons was listed again at the back of Eyre Street, with Charles E. Rudd as partner, living in Broomspring Lane.  The business still operated in Eyre Street in the interwar years, with William Henry Rudd (the son of Charles Edward) as the partner by the 1930s.  In 1952, an advertisement stated that the owners were W. G. Bell and J. Hollingsworth, with the emphasis on surgical scissors.  The firm was not listed after 1960 and was absorbed by Bolton Surgical Ltd.