It is interesting to conjecture what happens in business relationships and the subsequent changes as time goes on. We know that William Staley joined Kirjarth Maw(what a great name) to create Maw and Staley in about 1825 who made all kinds of edge tools. I have examples of these tools in blades, mortice chisels, and plough irons. I am interested in seeing an example of a saw with the two names on it, if there is such a thing. I have pictured here an example of a saw with just William Staley\'s name on it. Did Maw die in 1833 when William became the sole owner and are there examples of his other tools with only his name. It was later bought out in 1839 by Fenton and Marsden as per Roberts. This is a closed beech handled brass back 14\" saw. The front tapers from 2\" to 3\" at the at the handle. W.Staley, Cast Steel was stamped in the into the brass back. The handle is held on by two 7/16 slotted brass screws. There is so very little pitting on the back of this blade, I would call it surprisingly clean and it was unfortunately cleaned earlier in its history. It still has some black finish in the handle.
Hi Joe, Thanks for showing us a beautiful saw. Here are some initial notes. I notice a \"dot\" in the CAST.STEEL I have been keeping an eye out for this, According to Simon Barley, this is seen generally before 1830 and rarely seen after. Can you take a close look at the mark and see if you can tell whether it\'s part of the original stamp? Some random information, to start with. From SheffieldRecordsOnline I only found 1x Kergarth Maw (Kirjath) I agree it\'s a great name! Kergarth MAW gentleman 22 Carver Street White\'s 1833 I note that he calls himself a \"gentleman\" But 5x William Staley\'s ? Simon Barley\'s List has, Maw & Staley Edge & Joiner\'s tools Rockingham Street 1823 (No other dates) From SheffieldRecordsOnline, William STALEY edge tool, joiners\' tool and table knife manufacturer, steel refiner and merchant 50 Rockingham Street White\'s 1833 From Pigot\'s 1818, Maw & Staley Edge Tool Maker Button Lane. Summarizing the above so far:- Looks like Maw & Staley were in business as edge tool makers at least as early as 1818, and at least as late as 1823 but by 1833, Kergarth Maw has made the transition to \"gentleman\", and William Staley has started refining steel and expanded the business into table knives as well as edge tools. (this is about the same time that John Davenport was expanding his business in Rockingham St, Tyzack was there as well) Other comments of style.. The handle style is Dolphin, generally a later style than London, only 2 screws, generally less screws indicates earlier rounded back chamfer (the chamfer at the bottom of the brass back) more rounded earlier. I haven\'t looked at Roberts yet, I will do that over the next few days. Wow, Joe what a great saw, and condition is excellent. Regards Ray
Additional Note on Kergath Maw. From http://www.familysearch.com Kergath Maw, Married Hannah Hambler on 11 August 1802 Cathedral Saint Peter, Sheffied, Yorkshire, England (just googling for Kergath Maw, came up with this..) Archbishop of York: Exchequer & Prerogative (PCY) Courts: Probate Index 1688-1858 September 1834 Mawe, Kergath of Sheffield Prog T. 1500 Vol 190. 157. So Joe, Looks like your guess might be correct, Kergath Maw(e) died before September 1834. Also Guessing, he appears to be out of the business by 1833 anyway. and died perhaps early 1834. If the stamp reflects this change then we can guess 1834-1839 as a possible date. Regards Ray
Again Ray, thanks for all the info on the Maw and Staley union. I think it is great that Mr. Maw felt it was important to be known and designated only as a \"Gentleman\" at a certain point in his life. I wonder then if he got his hands at all dirty in the early days of his company and at some point delegated the menial jobs to others including W. Staley when it became the two of them. We all now have achievable goals in life to be know as \"gentleman\" and \"gentlewoman\" if we so designate it. It was a good observation on the dot between the cast and steel because it is identical to the mark between the W and Staley. Does this mean we can push the C. 1830 for dots back a little or say that the stamp was made and needed no further changes if there were some made almost to the 40\'s? The suggestion got me looking through more of the collection.... and what do you know, some more examples. We can bring some of these out as we go farther along. Joe
Hi Joe, The credit for the \"full-stop\" should be attributed to Simon Barley, who lives in Sheffield, and has been researching saw makers extensively for years, some of his work has been published in TATHS newsletters. And a few of his articles are on-line at http://www.wkfinetools.com I understand he has an upcoming article in the next TATHS newsletter, with some comments on \"style\" as a guide to dating. As to Mr Kergath Maw Esq. with a name like that, I imagine he would be a very distinguished gentleman indeed! Regards Ray
Gentlemen, remember that many of the entrepreneurs of the Industrial Revolution were hard-up gentry coming in from the country; and Maw may have been one of these. They had the advantages of social position (and the confidence that comes from this), education, and sometimes could touch better off members of the family for capital. Glad to see the site is getting correspondents. Cheers Peter