Siddall's corporate mark
George Siddall’s early life is uncertain (his name was common enough to confuse his background in the parish registers). However, at the time of the Census (1841), he was living in Corn Hill and working as a table knife cutler. He appeared in a Sheffield directory in 1845 as a shopkeeper in Allen Street. In 1850, he was trading in table and butchers’ knives in Edward Street, but he continued to operate his shop in Allen Street. By 1859, Siddall was selling a wide range of trade knives (for butchers, cooks, painters, furriers, and glaziers) from Solly Street and Brocco Street. He seems to have relinquished his shop keeping business by the late 1860s and decided to concentrate on cutlery. In 1871, when he was aged 48, he employed 17 workers.
Siddall’s corporate mark was ‘EXPRESS’, which he obtained from the Company of Cutlers in 1865. In 1874, Siddall launched a legal complaint against another table knife manufacturer, Henry Bennett, for counterfeiting his mark (Sheffield Independent, 18 April 1874). The mark was later used legitimately by Henry Hobson and John Clarke. By 1881, Siddall was living at Express Villa, Mushroom lane, and employed six men. His business address was Brocco Street. Siddall died on 4 January 1903, aged 68, leaving £291 to his widow Elizabeth. His ‘successor’ was Charles F. Ward.