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Printed during the late 1970's this issue deals with the full history iron making at the Attercliffe steelworks from its formation in 1585 until the date of publication. See also BI-CENTENARY ISSUE 1776 - 1976 400 YEARS OF IRON AND STEELRecently Sandersons celebrated their hundredth year as a public company. The firm was registered as Sanderson Brothers and Company Limited in 1869. But, as some of our readers will be aware, the history of the firm goes back much further than a mere hundred years. Two hundred would be a nearer figure. And the origin of our works - as distinct from the company - can be traced back nearly 400 years. Something of our history has been recorded in this magazine previously. but more detailed information has come to light since our last article. Here are some of the facts we have discovered. THE EARLY WORKSSheffield had natural resources favouring the establishment of an iron and steel industry. At various places in the district, ironstone was to be found, near to the surface and easily mined. There were - and still are - supplies of heat-resisting rocks and clays for furnace building. Timber was plentiful for the early charcoal smelting and coal was available for later processes. Water power from the Don and its tributaries was an important asset to the industry for many years. The early British smelted iron in the district - for instance at Wincobank - and when Templeborough fort was excavated earlier this century, the remains of a Roman ironworks was discovered there. The industry flourished in medieval times, with small iron-making units operating in such places as Beauchief, Norton, Handsworth, Rivelin, Wadsley, Wortley, and Treeton. Much of the initial impetus for this activity came from monkish or clerical communities. Subsequently the large landowners carried on iron-making as a complementary activity to farming or leased works sites to the minor gentry together with the right to mine ore and cut wood for charcoal. Iron was used for tools, agricultural implements and weapons. The primitive little smelting works, called “Bloomeries.” produced a good low carbon wrought iron, suitable for forging, direct from the ore. The blast furnace - a development of the bloomery - was introduced into the district in 1585. Gradually the bloomeries died out, beaten by the newer works in speed of output. A blast furnace of those days could produce 250 tons of iron a year, as compared with 30 tons from a bloomery. A blast furnace, however, has one great limitation. The metal it produces is relatively brittle and impure and in its raw state is only suitable for castings. This fact was no detriment as far as the ordnance casting works of Kent and Sussex were concerned, where the blast furnace was first introduced. But for blacksmith’s work the iron had to be refined. For this purpose the “forge finery was invented. The first forge fineries in Sheffield were known as the “Attercliffe Forges.” One, the “ Nether Forge,” was the beginning of our works. The other - the “Upper Forge “ - was on the Attercliffe side of the river, near the Slitting Mill Lane of today. George Talbot, Sixth Earl of Shrewsbury. Lord of the Manor of Sheffield, built the works in 1585, together with a blast furnace at Wadsley and a further furnace at Jordan in the lower part of Kimberworth. Ironstone pits were opened at Tankersley on the site of part of today's M1 motorway. Pig iron was brought from the furnaces in ox-carts to Attercliffe for refining. The finery hearth was a large, flat bottomed fireplace containing a heaped fire of charcoal. The pig was lifted into this and melted near the top of the fire, resting on the “ hare plate “ or “ back plate and exposed to a strong blast from an air nozzle, called a “ tuyere.” Gradually the molten pig ran in droplets into the pool of cinder at the bottom of the hearth. No doubt there was some refining through decarburization at this stage of the progress, by contact with the air blast and molten cinder. Due to the lower temperature in the bottom of the furnace (and the reduction in carbon) the iron was now in a solid mass. The operative, known as the “finer,” using long iron rods, broke up this mass and lifted the pieces for further exposure to the blast from the tuyere. Eventually the pieces were worked into a ball which was withdrawn from the hearth for consolidation into a thick square under a big water-driven hammer. A reheating followed, of about an hour, at welding temperature in the finery hearth, when the bloom was forged again. This time the centre was thinned and extended, two thicker parts being left, one at each end, one larger than the other. At this stage, the bloom was called an “ancony.” The knobs were subsequently forged down after heating in a second hearth called a “chafery” and the finished bar, usually square in section, was ready for sale. THE BLAST FURNACESThe blast furnaces were about 18 feet high; their Output one ton
of iron each a day. The Wadsley furnace, which worked until 1683, was on a site
near to the present Herries Road South. A map of 1750 shows both the “
cinder-hill “ (or slag tip) and the “furnace hill.” A tributary of the Don
filled a dam from which water flowed to work the furnace wheel. The wheel, in
turn. operated two pairs of giant bellows which forced a powerful blast into the
furnace. Stocks of ironstone and charcoal were kept in sheds on the furnace
hill. These The Kimberworth furnace was near to the Jordan dam on the River Don. At first, tributary brooks were dammed to supply the waterpower, but within a few years a dam was built on the Don itself. There are no records of this furnace after 1645. SEVENTEENTH CENTURYIronmaking continued at the Attercliffe Forge throughout the 17th Century under various managements. The male line of the Shrewsbury’s ending in 1617, the works were let to the Copleys and their partners. The Copley family, originally of Wadworth, near Doncaster, were prominent in local industrial development. Lionel Copley of Rotherham (1607-75) son of George Copley, ran the works for many years, together with Wardsend Forge, Kimberworth Forge. the Chapeltown blast furnace, the Rockley blast furnace, and other works. A document of about 1640 shows a down payment of £2,000 and a rent of £120 10s. 0d. to be paid in quarterly instalments at Sheffield Castle, these being the agreed terms for Attercliffe Forge and Wardsend Forge. In 1666 Lionel Copley contracted to pay £200 rent a year to Henry Howard. Duke of Norfolk, for Attercliffe Forge, Wardsend Forge, Rotherham Forge, and the Chapeltown Furnace. A reproduction of part of the deed relating to this transaction appears on page three. Copley also paid £114 lOs. a year for the Close and Forge Meadows at Attercliffe, the Castle Meadows at Brightside Bierlow and the Wardsend Farm. The contract allowed him to cut wood at a specified price from the Duke’s Estates, under the supervision of the “ Woodwards ” or “ Bayliffs ”; and to make the wood into charcoal. He was also allowed to dig for iron ore. Copley was to erect a slitting mill at Rotherham Forge. Some years afterwards, this mill was transferred from Rotherham to Attercliffe Forge. Documents from the era are full of references to Lionel Copley and his elder brother Christopher. As might be expected, the history of the works is mixed up with the history of the Civil War. The brothers served on the Parliament side. Lionel was Muster Master General in the Army raised in 1642 by Robert. Earl of Essex. On October 15, 1645. Colonel Christopher Copley. with a force of 2,000 cavalry, routed a section of the Royalist army at Sherburn-in-Elmet. Mottoes on the Copley banners were For Reformation” and “Nay, but as a captain of the host of the Lord am I come.” In 1651, after the war, the Copleys petitioned the Government for compensation for losses sustained during the hostilities. The works and furnaces had been commandeered during the war by the Earl of Newcastle for the making of cannon balls and guns and the petitioners had been “ great losers.” What compensation, if any, was paid, is not recorded, but by 1652 Lionel Copley had sufficient free capital to build a new blast furnace at Rockley, near Birdwell. The shell of the furnace is still standing. After the death of Lionel Copley, the Attercliffe and associated works passed into the hands of a syndicate. The partners were William Simpson of Renishaw, Francis Barlow of Sheffield, and Dennis Hayford of Millington. In this partnership, John Simpson of Babworth (William Simpson’s brother) soon bought a large share. Hayford was connected with Wortley Forge and the others already held shares in works in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. In 1690 William Fell of Rotherham became a partner. Fell’s son John, who had administered Wortley Forge for Hayford, came to Attercliffe and on the death of his father in 1692, inherited his share. This John Fell (1666-1724) was the first of the well-known Attercliffe ironmasters of that name. Fell Street, near the works, is named after the family. The syndicate operated successfully until 1727 when there was a re-forming with various new partners. Processes at the works remained essentially the same as in the previous century. Pig iron, from the Chapeltown Furnace, was sent to Attercliffe and Wardsend for refining. After John Fell’s death in 1724, John Fell II took over the management. Another important shareholder was John Spencer of Cannon Hall, Cawthorne. Every year Fell distributed copies of the accounts to the shareholders, and many of these papers, once preserved at Cannon Hall, but now in Sheffield City Library, are still in existence. Naturally, the accounts provide a mine of information for students of the 18th century iron trade. In addition to managing the works leased from the Duke of Norfolk, John Fell acted as a general administrator for other groups of works owned by the partners. These comprised blast furnaces at Staveley. Whaley, Foxbrooke. Kirkby; forges at Staveley, Carburton and Clipstone. and slitting mills at Renishaw and Rotherham. The New Hall. where John Fell lived with his wife and an adopted member of the family, Richard Swallow, must have seen much coming and going in those days. In addition to his other duties, Fell sometimes acted as travelling salesman and periodically made journeys over the Pennines. Otherwise, contact was made with customers at the Works and by the travelling factor salesmen known as “Chapmen.” The main products of the works in those days besides forged iron bar, included slit rod for nail-making (from the slitting mill), plate and sheet, and domestic pans, such as frying pans and dripping pans. The rolling mill as we know it today was not yet invented, so plate was made under the hammers, the thinner gauges of sheet being hammered in pairs and packs. This was known as the “Plating Trade.” Steel began to make its appearance in the products during the early 1700’s. At first the quantities shown in the accounts (as tilted bar) were small, but by mid-century, steel became more important and eventually took first place over iron in the slitting mill output. Records show that John Fell II had a share in a cementation steel furnace at Richmond, Parish of Handsworth in 1736. A few years later, together with two partners, Milner and Clay, he made cementation steel at two furnaces, one at Ballifield (Handsworth) and one at Attercliffe. Cementation steel was made by heating low carbon forge iron in contact with charcoal. Over a period of many days’ heating, carbon was absorbed into the iron. The product, known from its appearance as “ Blister Steel ” could then, if desired, be made into shear steel. The latter was made by binding together into faggots a number of short lengths of blister steel, heating to welding temperature and hammering down to bar. If this bar was again broken into lengths, piled and rehammered, the product was termed double shear.” These processes lingered on in Sheffield until well into the 20th century. Cementation steel was a favourite material for cutlery as it held a good edge for ordinary cutting purposes. The tall bottle-shaped cementation furnaces were a familiar feature of the Sheffield industrial landscape for many years. The metallurgical characteristics of English forge iron made it unsuitable for the manufacture of blister steel. It was necessary, therefore, to use imported Swedish iron. This was made from superior iron ores to those obtainable in the clay ironstone beds in England. The Swedish iron was imported through Hull and brought up the River Don and the canal to Tinsley, whence it was transported in wagons to Sheffield. A disadvantage of cementation steel was its lack of homogenity even after piling and hammering. For cutlery the minute layers of inclusions were not detrimental. They were even useful, for they put a fine serration on the knife edge which increased its cutting power. But for fine things, such as those intended to take a high polish or a precise edge, cementation steel was not suitable. A new product was therefore introduced in the late 1740’s, known as crucible cast steel.” This was made by melting cemented bar with scrap and other ingredients in a closed fireclay crucible in a coke furnace. After casting into ingots the material was hammer-cogged into bars. As summarised thus, the process sounds simple, but Huntsman, the inventor, no doubt experimented a great deal before he made usable ingots. Richard Swallow I (1729-1801) who took over the Attercliffe Forge in 1775-1776, a few years after the death of John Fell, pioneered the processing of crucible steel at these works, and the steel business founded at this time ultimately passed into the hands of the Sanderson Company. In 1776 crucible steel was being made in furnaces at Oakes Green, Attercliffe, opposite the bottom of Staniforth Road. The Attercliffe hammers began to forge more and more steel as the finery iron business died out. The original title of the firm was Naylor and Sanderson. The Naylors were cutlers established in Coalpit Lane (Cambridge Street today) but the first known premises under the joint name of Naylor and Sanderson were in Carver Street Lane (the building is still standing). In 1814 Naylor & Sanderson built a new works in West Street containing steel furnaces. The firm worked in association with the second Richard Swallow at the Attercliffe Forge, sending ingots there for processing. In 1822 Naylor & Sanderson took over the Attercliffe Forge on a lease from the Duke of Norfolk. FARADAY’S EXPERIMENTSBetween 1820-1822 Naylor & Sanderson assisted Michael Faraday in some very early experiments into the effects of alloys in steel. The mixes, containing appropriate proportions of various alloys, were sent up from London to be melted in crucibles at the West Street works, the resultant ingots being tilted into bar. Nickel and rhodium were amongst the alloys used. The steel thus made was the first ever to be used for the commercial production of alloy steel articles. A firm known as Green, Picksley & Co. made cutlery stove fronts and fenders from it for a time and a certain number of razors were made, possibly of rhodium steel. Of course, the full development of alloy steels did not occur until many years later. but it is interesting to know that these early experiments were done at our works. An intriguing account of the Sanderson works at West Street and Attercliffe appears in Sir Richard Phillip’s “Personal Tour” published in 1828. He describes the cementation and crucible processes as well as the sheet and rod mills. There is a further account of the works in Lardner’s Cyclopaedia of the Useful Arts, 1831. The Swiss industrialist J. C. Fischer (1775-1854) made a series of visits to the Sanderson Works during tours of England in 1825, 1827, 1845, and 1846. He was greatly impressed by the firm’s output and the quality of its products. In 1829 George Naylor retired and the partnership was re-formed as Sanderson Brothers & Co. The share-holders were now Thomas Sanderson, John Sanderson, James Sanderson and Edward Fisher Sanderson. Previously they had owned three-quarters of the shares and now, by purchase, had acquired the rest of the shares from George Naylor and some minor shareholders. An additional production unit, the Wadsley Bridge Works, was acquired about 1834. This had once been a paper mill in the tenancy of John Hoult who had converted it into a steel tilt. The Sandersons enlarged the works which had a dam for water power. The goit (water channel) came from the Don at Niagara Weir. Most of the old stone buildings are still there today, but are no longer occupied by Sanderson’s. One of the cottages on this site was once let to John Simpson, probably a member of that Simpson family which served Sanderson Brothers for several generations. DARNALL WORKSIn 1835 Sanderson Brothers & Co. took out a lease of 21 years on premises in Darnall Road from John Fisher. David Walker, and their mortgagees at a yearly rent of £13 13s. 0d. The property had been a glasshouse and it became the genesis of the Darnall Works where the firm ultimately concentrated its steel converting and crucible melting. It is highly likely that the glass furnace was turned into a steel converting furnace, as in general form they were much the same. Both consisted of a hollow cone of brick-work open at the top. All that would be necessary would be to add the converting chests and flues. A number of new converting furnaces were, however, soon erected adjacent to the original glass furnace, together with crucible furnaces. A new deed of partnership was entered into in September 1839, retrospective from October 1836. Thomas Sanderson had died on December 27, 1836. The partners were now John Sanderson, his son Edward Fisher Sanderson, James Sanderson, Henry Furniss and Edward Hudson. The latter two had married Ann and Maria respectively, the daughters of Thomas Sanderson. John Sanderson lived for a time at Darnall Hall, but later occupied the New Hall, near the Works. In 1843 three corporate marks were registered with the Cutlers’ Company. They were Palmyra, Pitho, and Pax. All these are still registered marks of the Company today. Steam engines were in use at the Attercliffe Works by at least 1848. An old inventory shows that two beam condensing steam engines by Messrs. Garforth of Dukinfield were put in during September that year. They were probably used to operate a series of tilt hammers. Steam driven hammers, including a two-ton Nasmyth-type hammer are referred to in a description of the works which appears in Pawson and Brailsford’s Guide to Sheffield published about 1860. This book also states that “Messrs. Sanderson Brothers and Co. are amongst the largest as they are of the oldest manufacturers of steel, for which, with the various descriptions of files, saws, edge tools, cutlery. etc. of which they are general merchants, they have a deservedly high repute throughout the Continent, the United States and Russia.” The ruling spirit at the works at this time was Edward Fisher Sanderson (1800-1866). He had represented the firm in America for many years, but on the death of his father, John, in 1852, and on the death of his uncle, James, in 1853, he succeeded to their respective shares and returned to the works as senior partner. He went to live at Endcliffe Grange. which had been left him by his uncle James. Dr. John Percy, whose classic work “Metallurgy” was published in 1864. received valuable guidance from E. F. Sanderson in the preparation of the section on the manufacture of cementation and crucible steel. John Sanderson’s second son Charles (1803-1873) had no partnership interest in the business. He had his own steel works in Sharrow Vale, patented many inventions relating to metal manufacture, and according to Fischer, was an able mineralogist.” Well-known steel industry names associated with Sanderson’s included the Firths. Both Mark Firth and his brother Thomas gained their early training at Sanderson’s, Mark being on the commercial side and Thomas in the works. They left in 1842 to start their own business, in which they were eventually joined by their father, Thomas Firth, who had been head melter at West Street. Edward Tozer was at Sanderson’s for 44 years from 1831 to 1875. He became Joint Managing Director in 1869, together with Charles Henry Halcomb. On leaving Sanderson’s. Tozer, in 1875. joined with Henry Steel and T. Hampton in taking over the Phoenix Bessemer Works, which ultimately became Steel. Peech and Tozer. LIMITED COMPANYSanderson’s was formed into a limited company on October 27, 1869. The subscribers were Henry Furniss. Edward Hudson, Charles Elam, Edward Tozer, Charles Henry Halcomb, Bernard Wake and Ebenezer Hall. Of these, the first six were appointed directors, Bernard Wake being the chairman and Edward Tozer and Charles Henry Halcomb, joint managing directors. In addition to the Darnall, Newhall Road and West Street Works, the company’s assets included stock in trade at New York, Boston, Philadelphia and New Orleans. It was very soon decided to quit the West Street Works, as that site was too built-in to admit further development. Extensions were contemplated at the Newhall Road Works but initial new development was eventually concentrated at Darnall. Additional land was acquired there and in August 1871 it was resolved to erect a new “ 48-hole melting furnace and sheds for coke, steelhouses. etc.” At the third annual general meeting a considerable improvement in the company’s position was noted. “The American Steel Question “-that is on valuation for import duty-had been resolved by the sending of special commissioners to Sheffield by the Washington Government. The American trade had increased, fortunately, in view of the fact that the Franco-German war had restricted trade with the continent of Europe. However, the war had been short and business had again reopened with both countries. At the fourth annual general meeting on July 26, 1872, it was reported that the position of the company had further improved. There was a great increase in trade in the country generally. The increase in Sanderson’s trade was uniformly distributed between America. Europe and England, but an “uncomfortable restlessness at the American Customs House was noted . . . . where the authorities persistently made efforts to raise the rate of duty.” During the past year there had been considerable extensions at Darnall and new boilers and a new steam hammer had been put in at Newhall Road. At Darnall, in addition to the coke melting holes of which there were now 132. they also put down gas melting furnaces to equal the output of 60 coke melting holes. This also entailed the erection of gas producers and the extension of shops for making crucibles, weighing-up shops, and storage for the blister steel, bar iron and alloys. The workpeople were transferred from West Street to Darnall and the West Street Works sold. SYRACUSE WORKSOn September 29, 1876, a new Company with a capital of $450,000 was formed called Sanderson Brothers Steel Co., with premises at Syracuse, New York. The manufacture of Sanderson steels was begun in America, and workmen from Sheffield were sent to the Syracuse works. The tariff wall built up by America had rendered non-competitive high-quality steel made in Sheffield. Records left by members of the firm who went out to Syracuse are still in existence. These show that a number of alloy tool steels were already being made by Sanderson’s both in Sheffield and America at that early date. The steels included 1.0 per cent, carbon, 1.5 per cent manganese steel of the Pitho Non-Shrink type, and a 22 per cent tungsten steel with a substantial chromium content similar to our present Kerau Wunda high-speed steel. This is termed a “ self-hardening steel in the record, but it is far removed from the self-hardening steels as originally developed which had much lower tungsten. It is clear that even in those days Sanderson’s were well to the forefront in the search for improved tool steels. The manufacture of files at the Newhall Road works was started in 1879. Previously, Sanderson’s file factory had been situated in Young Street near the old Newbould works at the bottom of Sheffield Moor. A new product was introduced into the Sanderson range in 1891, when the Company began the manufacture of sword bayonets. Mr. C. H. Halcomb negotiated contracts with the War Office, extensive new shops were erected and additional labour engaged for the work. Formerly the manufacture of sword bayonets in England had been confined to Enfield. The firm manufactured bayonets up to the end of the 1914-18 War. In 1900 the American steel-manufacturing interests were relinquished and Sanderson Brothers Steel Co. was absorbed by the Crucible Steel Company of America. The Sheffield Company were thus in a position to consider developments to the original concern. They therefore absorbed the firm of Samuel Newbould & Co. Ltd. with its goodwill, trademarks and world-wide reputation for saws, edge tools and machine knives. NEWBOULD HISTORYThe original family business from which the firm of Samuel Newbould & Co. originated was established about 1735 by Thomas Newbould, shear-smith (1714-1782). Mainly the earlier Newboulds were farmers, but there is a record that one at least - John - was practising as a cutler in Sheffield in 1624. Thomas Newbould’s family lived in Ecclesall; their farm, sometimes known as Ecclesall Old Hall and now pulled down, was at the top of Millhouses Lane. A drift mine nearby was also worked by them. Thomas, who became an orphan at the age of ten, succeeded to the farm, which was let to tenants. The young man was apprenticed in 1727 first to John Wild, woolshearsmith, and later to Thomas Wilson, shearsmith. Thomas Newbould became a Freeman of the Cutlers’ Company in 1735 and began trading on his own account. A record of his offices with the Cutlers’ Company is as follows Assistant 1741-1744, Searcher 1746-1748, Junior Warden 1749, Senior Warden 1750, Master Cutler 1751 (at the age of 37), Searcher 1752, Assistant 1753. It is not known where he practised his trade from 1735-1747, but in the latter year he acquired premises in Coalpit Lane, Sheffield. A reference in the Chapeltown Furnace Accounts (Spencer-Stanhope papers) shows that he was now supplying edge tools and saws to the iron-making syndicate led by John Fell of Attercliffe Forge. BROOMHALL WHEELAdditional premises were acquired in Coalpit Lane in 1763. As there was no water power in this area, the cutlers and tool makers sent their products for grinding to wheels located on the small rivers running into Sheffield. Quite early in his career Thomas Newbould took a lease of the Broomhall Wheel on the River Porter. This Wheel was about where the canteen of the Sheffield Twist Drill and Steel Company stands today, in Solferino Street near its junction with Cemetery Road. The area was, of course, quite rural in the days of Thomas Newbould. Besides the Broomhall Wheel, Thomas Newbould, sometime in his career, took out a lease of the Norton Hammer Wheel on the River Sheaf. In 1772 he was paying a land tax on this wheel of 15/-. Eventually the wheel went to his son Samuel Newbould, who kept it until about 1806, when it passed through various hands. Miller in “The Water Mills of Sheffield,” says that towards the end of its working life it was used by William Tyzack Sons & Turner for grinding scythes. From a directory entry of 1781 we have the first record of the change of name of the business. The title now reads “Samuel Newbould, Shearsmith, Coalpit Lane.” Thomas Newbould and his wife Hannah had three sons and five daughters. Of the eldest, Thomas, (1744-1810) little is known. Leader the Sheffield historian, describes him as a merchant who died unmarried. The second son William (1749-1802) married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Holy, button manufacturer, and was in partnership with his father-in-law. It was therefore to the third son. Samuel (1752-1842), that the business eventually came. Samuel became a freeman of the Cutlers’ Company in 1780, and began to take over the direction of the business from his father. who was in failing health. In 1784. two years after Thomas Newbould’s death, Samuel transferred the business from Coalpit Lane to Bridgefield. The premises had belonged to Samuel’s father-in-law John Taylor, who was a long-distance carrier who had transported the Newbould’s goods. The Bridgefield Works were at the bottom of Little Sheffield Moor, as it was then called. The site was rather out of the town in those days. but it was nearer to the water wheels on the Sheaf and the Porter than were the old Coalpit Lane premises. NEW BUILDINGSExpansion soon began, and by 1787, Samuel Newbould had erected new buildings. In the directory of 1787 we find Samuel Newbould, Sheffield Moor. listed under both Edge Tool Makers and Shear Makers, with, in both instances, the mark NEWBOLD. Colley, Newbould & Co. Sheffield Moor, are also listed in the same directory as Saw & Fender Makers. It is believed that this was a partnership between Samuel Newbould and his brother-in-law James Eckley Colley. On Colley’s leaving the district sometime prior to 1794. the partnership was re-formed as Newbould, Ridge & Wilde. This firm used the Boggey Wheels on the Loxley for grinding. Here there was a 12 ft. 6 in. fall of water and eight troughs at which ten hands were employed. Ultimately Ridge and Wilde dropped out of the partnership, and the firm went under the name of Samuel Newbould & Co - or as it was sometimes styled - S. Newbould & Sons. They were Edge Tool Manufacturers. Fender Makers and Saw Makers. At sometime during the early nineteenth century, if not before, the Newbould’s also began steelmaking. There is ample evidence of this, for the inventory and plan of Bridgefield Works, date 1844. shows “ cast steel furnaces, etc . . . converting furnaces and the Commercial Directory for 1814-15 lists Samuel Newbould & Son, Sheffield Moor, under the heading of Steel Converters and Refiners.” Furthermore, quite early on, the Newboulds were tilting at Loxley. Miller remarks : “ Old Wheel Dam . . . would seem to have run both a tilt and a grinding wheel in the early part of the nineteenth century, when for seventy or eighty years, the property was owned by the Newboulds. Messrs. Samuel Newbould & Co. were tilters here for a considerable period but the Dentons leased the forge from somewhere about 1845 to 1885.” The dam has been for some years on the premises of T. Wragg & Sons (Sheffield) Ltd. the refractory manufacturers. On a recent visit to the works considerable remains of water wheels and tilting machinery were seen. There were three wheels in all and one had been in use up to a few years ago for driving a small machine. The Old Wheel Dam was near to the Boggey wheels at which Newbould, Ridge and Wilde did their grinding about 1794. The tilt was built between 1779 and 1789. The Newboulds were not listed as steel converters in the Dunn Survey of 1802, but there is a reference in this document to Walker & Wilde who together imported 500 tons of iron annually for conversion. John Walker & Co. were then steel manufacturers in the Wicker. It seems possible that Wilde was in a separate partnership with Samuel Newbould for the purposes of steelmaking. Further interesting information emerges from this Survey, which had been prepared for the Cutlers’ Company who had taken up the idea of improving the River Don navigation by extending the canal from Tinsley to Sheffield. On receiving the engineer Mr. Dunn’s proposals, a deputation of six gentlemen went with him to Tinsley to reconnoitre the ground for the proposed canal. The gentlemen were the Master Cutler (Mr. Joseph Withers) Mr. Makin, Mr. Brownhill, Mr. Vickers, Mr. Cadman and Mr. Newbould. The preponderance of steel manufacturers should be noted as they, perhaps more than anyone, were interested in facilitating the transport of heavy materials - notably Swedish iron for conversion - from Hull to Sheffield. Conversely, they would be interested in sending heavy manufactured goods the opposite way. EXPORT TRADENewbould’s in fact, built up an extensive export trade both to Europe and America. Samuel Newbould Junior (1787-1851) went to America early in the 19th century and furnished a house in New York, where he acted as resident agent for the firm. Samuel Newbould (senior) occupied the various offices in The Cutlers’ Company. becoming Master Cutler in 1800. He appears to have been on the committee for promoting the Parliamentary candidature of Henry Lascelles, son of the Earl of Harewood, who stood against Viscount Milton in the election of 1807. However, Milton seems not to have held this against him for, in 1834, when Milton. now Earl Fitzwilliam. celebrated his son’s coming-of-age, T. Asline Ward recorded in his diary “ S. Newbould (active as ever) was at the grand ball at Wentworth House.” Samuel was then eighty-two years of age. He died in 1842 at the age of ninety. NEWHALL ROADNewboulds was formed into a Limited Company in 1868. Preparations for the transfer of the Samuel Newbould activities from Bridgefield Works to Newhall Road began in 1871 when a plot of land was leased from Sanderson’s on the site of our present Saw Department. Buildings erected included a paring shop, smithing shop and hardening shops. Grinding by machinery was introduced, starting with the first long-saw grinding machine to be installed in Sheffield. This machine was first used mainly for grinding Russian cross-cut saws. Later, a second machine of this type was put in together with glazing machinery and a circular saw grinding machine, and during the ensuing years the plant was expanded many times. The Bridgefield Works and the Loxley Wheel were put up for sale in 1884. The premises are described in a sale advertisement and it is interesting to note that the Bridgefield Works still contained converting furnaces and crucible furnaces even at that date. A nineteenth century Samuel Newbould & Company catalogue, unfortunately not dated, shows a remarkable profusion of merchandise, some manufactured by the Company itself and some obviously factored. On the cover, however, they list their main lines: steel, saws, files, tools, chaff knives, reaper sections, forgers and rollers. Inside, the steel list covers all the usual varieties made in the days before alloy steels came into vogue: blister steel, shear steel, cast steel (welding, spindle, common and tool), file cast steel, razor cast steel, penknife cast steel, all of which could have been made and tilted within the organisation. For rolled steel and sheet which they also offered, they would have recourse to other companies, most likely Sanderson Bros., with whom they became closely associated in the 1870’s. Some of the products described and illustrated in the Newbould catalogue would appear very odd in one of our publications today. Almost every form of engineering plant and equipment appeared, a page devoted to self-acting steam hammers made by Davy Bros. suggesting an agency for that firm. There were shearing machines, slotting machines, lathes, planing machines and even portable steam engines. A portable crane (with sufficient chain to reach the ground!) could be had for as little as £40. In addition to carpenters’ tools, agricultural implements, plumbers’ tools and the like, skates were quite an important item. In the edge tool section, the names of various patterns give a clue to the firm’s export markets. There are Russian field hoes. Canada hoes, American planters’ hoes, Carolina hoes, West Indian hoes. Barbadoes hoes, Spanish hoes. Brazil hoes. The list of planes is astonishing in its variety. The scythe trade was world-wide judging from these lists. There are scythes for Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Poland, Schleswig, U.S.A., Canada, South America. Even mail coach axles were offered. The saw section is particularly interesting. Short and long saws are illustrated much as are made today. There are circular and bandsaws; even a veneer cutting saw in segments. The combined firm of Sanderson & Newbould represented an ideal partnership. The Sanderson side produced steel for sale or as raw material for the tools made by the former Newbould end of the concern. Various new products were introduced from time to time. For instance the manufacture of high-speed steel hacksaw blades was started in 1915 in the Saw Department. After the war a separate Hacksaw Department was created and Sanderson hacksaw blades achieved a reputation for quality which has been maintained ever since. The firm started to make a high-speed steel inserted tooth saw in the 1920’s, following this with the Newbould segmental saw in the early 1930’s. The manufacture of Heliocentric Speed Reducers began in 1933. The more traditional products, such as wood-cutting circulars and handsaws, as well as files, continued to maintain their world-wide reputation. On the steel side the firm concentrated on the production of high-quality steel, particularly tool and high-speed steels. In 1934 the Darnall Works was relinquished, steel manufacturing being concentrated in its entirety at Newhall Road, where a new electric melting shop was built. During 1939-45 Sanderson’s made an outstanding contribution to the war effort, production including more than a million bullet-proof plates, thousands of paravane plane units and paravane cutters, torpedo parts, clutchplates for armoured vehicles and steel for gun and rifle components as well as tool steel. Since the war, the firm has expanded its reputation for high-quality steels and tools, aided in its export markets by subsidiary companies in South Africa, Canada and Australia. Sanderson Kayser Limited was formed in 1960 on the merger with Kayser Ellison & Company Limited of Carlisle Steelworks and Darnall Steelworks, Sheffield. The latter site includes the old Sanderson Darnall Works where the remains of some of the original buildings may still be seen adjacent to the modern plant. ---------------------------------------------------------------- REFERENCES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSVarious records of Sanderson Brothers & Company Limited and
Samuel Newbould & Company Limited. ---------------------------------------------------------------- SANDERSON KAYSER LIMITED |
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