This firm was active between the 1920s and 1960s as a manufacturer of stainless and electro-plated table cutlery.  Its speciality was canteens of cutlery, which often had fancy wooden cabinets.  The principal of the enterprise was Charles Frederick Hall, who was born in about 1881.  His early life is obscure, but information from ships’ passenger lists suggests that he acquired experience at Westwood Works, Witton, Birmingham.  This was the factory of S. M. Emanuel & Co, a manufacturer of studs, buttons, and jewellery.  Possibly, Hall was trained in electro-plating, as on one occasion in 1907 he described himself as a ‘cyanider’.  In 1918, he was in Canterbury, Sydney, in Australia, where he married Ruby Frances Sanderson. In the following year, the couple returned to England. In 1921, when he sailed again for Australia, Hall was a ‘commercial traveller’ for Emanuel’s. By 1925, however, his surname had become Viner-Hall and his business address was Broomspring Works, Bath Street, Sheffield (the address of Viners Ltd).  Why Hall changed his name is unclear: perhaps he had become Viners’ overseas manager; or maybe the double-barrelled name sounded more impressive. Certainly, some of Viner-Hall’s cutlery labels make clear that Viners Ltd was the manufacturer.

By 1930, Charles Frederick Viner-Hall was living permanently at Vaucluse in Sydney. In 1931, he established a factory in the city for the manufacture of cutlery cabinets made from Australian timbers.  Sixty local workers were soon employed.  The plan was to source cutlery from Sheffield and manufacture the cases in Australia (Daily News, Perth, 20 August 1934).  If Viners was the original supplier for his cutlery, then Viner-Hall soon made other arrangements.  In 1934, he registered Viner & Hall Ltd in Sheffield, with £100 capital. The office was at Imperial Works, Bramwell Street.  This was the address of John Sowden & Sons Ltd, which explains why John W. Sowden was co-director of the new company.  Cased cutlery canteens marketed by Viner-Hall after that date were often labelled ‘Imperial Works’.

In 1936, Viner-Hall registered his cutlery cabinet company in Sydney as Craftsman Products Ltd, with £10,000 capital.  He was co-director with his wife, Ruby, and G. J. Watman (The Advertiser [Adelaide], 24 December 1936).  In 1938, Viner-Hall Pty Ltd was incorporated at Sydney, with £20,000 capital. Charles Frederick and Ruby were directors: so, too, were Spencer L. Ross and Robert H. Fletcher (Dun’s Gazette, 10 October 1938).

During the Second World War, the Sheffield address of Viner-Hall Ltd was Egerton Street (the same as Sowden), where both firms occupied Exchange Works.  In the 1950s, Viner-Hall’s cutlery canteens were no longer fashionable and Australian cutlery tariffs curtailed the profitable import trade from Sheffield.  By then, Charles Frederick had retired.  He died in 1961 in Australia, aged about 80.  He had become a noted art collector and bequeathed several important works to Australian art galleries. In 1961, the address of Viner-Hall and Sowden was Victoria Street.  The firms were liquidated in 1967.