Kenilworth Works, 85-87 Denby Street in 1975. Picture Sheffield (s38142) © SCC
In 1861, George Travis and Samuel Russell became partners. Travis, who was trained as a white metal smith, was the son of builder and joiner George William Travis (c.1804-1885) and his wife, Grace. Russell had been a partner in Buxton & Russell. Russell & Travis was listed in 1862 as ‘late Buxton & Russell, and previously Samuel Russell’, Britannia, silver and electro-plate manufacturer, Eyre Street Works. In 1863, the partnership between Travis and Russell ended. George Travis & Co (‘late Russell & Travis’) was formed to manufacture similar products, including ivory and horn handles for teapots. The address was Clarence Works in Charles Street, with George Travis residing in Broomgrove Road.
By 1868, George Travis & Co was operating in Clarence Works at 13 Bath Street. George Shadford Lee and Thomas Hill were also briefly listed as partners in directories. In 1871, the firm employed 13 men, seven boys, ten women, and four girls; by 1881, the workforce was 19 men, three boys, and six women. In 1895, the firm registered a silver mark. In 1909, it became Travis, Wilson & Co Ltd, with £10,000 capital (Sheffield Daily Independent, 31 August 1909). The partners were sons George Roebuck Travis (the founder’s eldest) and Reginald; and W. E. Legge of F. Wilson & Co, silversmiths, Cavendish Street (Wilson & Davis). George Travis died on Easter Sunday, 12 April 1914, aged 79. A Methodist, he was buried in an unconsecrated grave in the General Cemetery. He left £44,374.
In the twentieth century, the firm concentrated on pewter ware, using the trade mark ‘MANOR’ (formerly used by A. Milns). George Roebuck Travis, Clarkehouse Road, a prominent Freemason, died on 12 June 1932. He left £6,782. His funeral was at Sheffield Crematorium. Travis, Wilson remained at Clarence Works, 13 Bath Street, until 1967. It then joined the Julius Isaacs Group and moved to Denby Street. In 1981, Isaacs was, in turn, taken over by Pinder Bros, which was located at Sheffield Plate Works in Arundel Street.