William Singleton was born in Sheffield in about 1826.  Apparently the son of Samuel, a tailor, he became a warehouseman and then spring knife manager.  In 1865, he started as a manufacturer of pen, pocket, table, and sportsman’s knives and scissors in Baker’s Hill.  Singleton rented the upper storeys of Queen’s Cutlery Works of Mappin.  By 1879, the firm was William Singleton & Co and the owner was living in Edge Hill Road in a house on a plot of land sold by the Montgomery Land Society.  A photograph of Singleton’s house can be seen in Nether Edge Neighbourhood Group, Old Sharrow and Nether Edge (1985).  His comfortable lifestyle was supported by his expanding trade: during the 1870s, his workforce doubled to 53.  The trade marks were ‘KEEN EDGE’, with two arrowheads; and ‘ALCHEMIC CUTLERY’.  By 1889, the firm was producing silver and electro-plate, besides the staple runs of knives.  William Singleton died suddenly of apoplexy at Edge Mount, Edge Hill Road, on 1 May 1892, aged about 66, and was buried in Ecclesall.  He left £5,551.

Singleton’s partner was Edmund Priestman (1852-1939), who had joined him in 1875.  Priestman had been born in Sutton, Yorkshire, the son of an owner of land and houses.  He took over the business and it became Singleton & Priestman.  In 1896, the company registered a silver mark from Pond Street, where it was listed as a manufacturer of silver and electro-plate goods and cutlery.  The firm had a London office at New Broad Street and an agent in New York.  By 1910, its address was Arundel Lane.  In 1922, the firm became a private limited company (capital £5,000), with Edmund and his daughter, Barbara, as directors, alongside W. T. Montford and G. W. Womersley.  In 1925, it was in Sidney Street as a manufacturer of pocket, table, tea, and pruning knives and specialist in gift and advertising knives.  Its trade mark was a variation on the arrowhead  device, with the words ‘RAZOR STEEL’.  Singleton & Priestman was based in Carver Street in 1931 and was last listed in 1936.  Edmund Priestman died at Buxton on 17 July 1939, aged 87.   He was buried at Ecclesall.