Hi all, I bought this today: https://goo.gl/photos/RPDEyewNDKmymViA9 I could not find Stevenson as a sole maker in British Saws and Saw Makers from c1660, but is he the Stevenson of Stevenson, Greening and Co? Sorry about the poor photos, I'll do proper ones if they are any interest. Regards, Tim
Hi Tim, I hate to start off by nitpicking, but it looks to me from the mark that Stevenson Mawhood and Co are a standalone firm and the saw is not manufactured by Stevenson for Mawhood. This is confirmed by a listing in the 1879 Sheffield directory on p.244 (H.D. page 259) where Stevenson Mawhood and Co. is listed as a steel and file manufacturer at Pinfold Lane. There are many more references to Mawhood through the years but this is the only reference to his partnership with Stevenson. There is a reference to some Mawhoods in 1881 but these are the Mawhood Brothers (no Stevenson) and they also refined steel and made files and edge tools. Now I realise that you want information on Steveneson and not the others, but to be honest, it will take a lot more effort and time to look up the relatively common name Stevenson than it did Mawhood. I will look him up when I get the time, with the current answer to your question being that I do not know, except to say that of the three Stevenson' in BSSM the one of Stevenson, Greening is in the right era. Fred Edit. I don't think that the online directories will be of much use as there is a 17 year gap between them at this rather crucial point (1862 to 1879). I have found the Stevenson in the 1862 Directory re. the BSSM reference to Beardshaw (and thus Greening). But there are then no directories until 1879 and therefore no "Stevenson trail" to follow. However, while there is a Thomas Stevenson in the 1879 directory, there is no Thomas Lowry Stevenson and so this may indicate that they are not the same Stevensons. What we really need is someone who lives near Sheffield and is au fait with the library there to see if there is any further information held there.
OK, Fred: I can take a hint. Will add this name to my list of look-ups when I'm next in the library. (and the photos seem fine, Tim: I've taken the liberty of purloining the maker's mark for the BSSM update – my thanks, in anticipation). Simon Edit: herewith my version of the photo.
Dear Fred, Nitpick away! We don't learn anything without rigorous enquiry. My, mistaken, thought was that the "Mawhood & Co" had been overstamped as it doesn't line up properly with the rest of the mark. It is also a different face and is not as deep. Simon, I will take proper photos with DSLR and macro lens, those shots were done on the dining table with an iPad. As someone who has spent quit a lot of money on camera gear (ask SWMBO) I should be ashamed. I bought the saw at a market in Sydney. I'll do a Trove search later today - a quick search yesterday seemed to show there might be some references in some 19th cent Oz newspapers. Regards and thanks both, Tim
Initial results of web search: NOTICE is hereby given, that the Partnership heretofore subsisting between the undersigned, Thomas Lowrey Stevenson and William Sorby, trading at the Pondstreet Steel Works, in Sheffield, under the firm of Stevenson, Sorby, and Company,is this day dissolved by mutual consent. The business will in future be carried on by the said Thomas Lowrey Stevenson and John Parkinson Mawhood, under the firm of Stevenson, Mawhood, and Company, and such firm will collect all the assets and discharge all the obligations of the late firm.—Dated this 1st day of May, 1867. Thos. Lowrey Stevenson. William Sorby From: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/23248/page/2656/data.pdf "The Bankruptcy Act, 1869. In the County Court of Yorkshire, holden at Sheffield. In the Matter of a Bankruptcy Petition against John Parkinson Mawhoo1, of Brightfield House, Sharrowlane, and carrying on business at Palm Tree Works, Attereliffe both in the parish of Sheffield, in the county of York, Merchant and Steel File and Edge Tool Manufacturer, trading as Stevenson, Mawhood, and Company, by Robert Smith, of Sheffield aforesaid, Iron Merchant . UPON the hearing of this Petition this day, and upon proof satisfactory to the Court of the debt of the Petitioner, and of the trading, and of the act of Bankruptcy alleged to have been committed by the said John Parkinson Mawhood having been given, it is ordered that the said John Parkinson Mawhood be, and he is hereby, adjudged bankrupt — Given under the Seal of the Court this 9th day of July 1879. By the Court, Thos W Badgers, Registrar . The First General Meeting of the creditors of the said John Parkinson Mawhood is hereby summoned to be held at the County Court Hall, Bank-street, Sheffield aforesaid, on the 21st day of July, 1879, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and that the Court has ordered the bankrupt to attend thereat for examination, and to produce thereat a statement of his affairs, as required by the statute. Until the appointment of a Trustee, all persons -having in their possession any of the effects of the bankrupt must deliver them, and all debts due to the bankrupt must be paid, to the Registrar. Creditors must forward their Proofs of Debts to the Registrar. The Bankruptcy Act, 1869." From: http://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/car-boot-t52933-30.html Stevenson, Mawhood, & Co., steel manufacturers, Sheffield; Glasgow office, 163 St. Vincent street ; From http://digital.nls.uk/directories/browse/pageturner.cfm?id=84450071&mode=transcription the Glasgow post office directory 1877-1878
A family history page gives a link with Australia: http://www.oocities.org/heartland/park/2283/families/mawhood.html "Margaret and her family left Bathurst in March 1865, bound for England. It appears though that further children included: EDITH PAULINE MAWHOOD (born 1865, Bridlington Quay, YKS), twins WALDO ELLISON MAWHOOD (born 1867, Ellerker, WRY, died 1941, Isle of Man (buried Derbyshire)) and JOSEPH THOMAS MAWHOOD (born 1867, Ellerker, WRY; married Rosella Stanford), CHARLES SHAFTO ARMSTRONG MAWHOOD (born 1868, Ellerker, WRY, died 1891 in India, buried ?Manganhor Tea Estate), FREDERICK RICHARD CONRAD MAWHOOD (born 1869, Sheffield, WRY, died 1871) and FREDERICK CONRAD MAWHOOD (born 1874, Sheffield, WRY, died 18?91). They settled in ?Sheffield, involving themselves with the steel industry and making a good living from it. Mawhood Brothers Limited manufactured tools and cutlery at Palm Tree Works, very successfully until the early 1930s. Apparently then there was a family row and Harold Chope (son-in-law of John Mawhood; see below) managed to take control of the company leading to a second migration of some of the family to Oberon. Mawhood Brothers struggled on until World War II when they switched to armaments and made a lot of money. About the mid-1950s Harold Chope sold out and retired to Bournemouth where Joan died in 1981 and Harold died in 1996 just before his 97th birthday. The company was only dissolved in the early 1980s. Margaret re-visited Australia three times, once bringing two of her children with her. John Parkinson Mawhood died on 10 November 1892. Margaret Mawhood nee Bailey survived her husband by almost 26 years; she died on 24 August 1918. John and Margaret were buried in Ecclesall Churchyard, Sheffield." Another family history site has a photo of the Mawhood works: https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Mawhood-2 Intriguing. The web is a wonderful thing. Tim
Some details on Stevenson: "NOTICE is hereby given, that the Partnership hereto-fore subsisting between the undersigned, Thomas Lowrey Stevenson, George Shuttleworth Pierson Greening, and Frederick Stevenson, all of Sheffield, in the county of York, Steel and File Manufacturers, trading under the firm of Stevenson, Greening, and Company, at the Pond-street Works, in Sheffield aforesaid, is this day dissolved by mutual consent. The business will henceforth be carried on at the aforesaid works by the undersigned Thomas Lowrey Stevenson, by whom all the debts of the firm will be paid and all the assets of the firm collected.—Dated this 18th day of October, 1864. Thos. Lowrey Stevenson. Geo. S. P. Greening, Frederick Stevenson.” https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/22906/page/5085/data.pdf
If anyone has a subscription to the British Newspaper Archive there are a number of hits for Thomas Lowey Stevenson: http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/titles/sheffield-independent It's not that expensive, but in Oz, the National Library has made the scanned newspapers free, except that our wonderful government has cut the funding... Tim
Hi Tim, That is one of the best things about this site, apart from a lot of WAG -ing (of which I am very guilty) you occasionally get gems like this one posted. If I can distill the timeline, it seems that:- On 18/10/1864, two Stevensons and Greening dissolved their partnership and T L Stevenson went it alone. Sometime between 1864 and 1867 T L Stevenson went into partnership with William Sorby. On 01/05/ 1867 this partnership with W Sorby was dissolved and T L Stevenson continued the business with John Parkinson Mawhood. (Your question answered. ) On 09/07/1879 J P Mawhood was adjudged bankrupt and presumably the partnership dissolved. This is why there is no reference to said partnership in the 1881 directory. And there is an Australian connection as a bonus. I also find the Glasgow connection curious. An office in London I can see the purpose of as a lot of firms did it around this stage, but Glasgow??? Fred
There is a bit more on the Oz connection. The Town and County Journal has some references to Mawhood files being available for sale here in the early 1880s I think it was. I'll do a bit more digging. Tim
In May 1876 the Melbourne Argus advertised files and other tools by "Stephenson (sic) and Mawhood": http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...e*|*ignore*|||sortby|||l-category=Advertisinghttp://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/a...e*|*ignore*|||sortby|||l-category=Advertising
I've done some digging in the archives at Sheffield's library, and must now make alterations to three companies' entries in BSSM – Jonathan Beardshaw, Stevenson Greening, and Mawhood Brothers. I've found that Stevenson (Thomas Lowery Stevenson, that is) was a partner with a Beardshaw son in a file making business close to the original Beardshaw works from 1852-1862; he then left to form Stevenson Greening makers of steel, files, saws, tools etc until 1867 (presumed date), with Stevenson Mawhood being formed by 1868, merchants and manufacturers of steel and files, at an address (2 Little Pond Street) shared with a cutler called W C Corsan, who is recorded in Tweedale's Directory of Sheffield Cutlery Manufacturers as being in 1868 insolvent (his main activity had been selling Bowie knives in the USA). He returned from America in 1875 and died shortly thereafter. The implication for Stevenson Mawhood is that they started small in 1868, remained at the same address until 1871 and then were in premises of their own (minus Stevenson) – 61 Little Pond Street – by 1874. I didn't follow the course of the Mawhood businesses after that date, as they were always factors, not makers of saws, with the same address in the Pond Hill area for many years, and there is all the information in the previous contributions to this thread (for which my thanks). Simon
Simon, Many thanks for your research on this. A $5 saw in a flea market can lead all kinds of unexpected places. The connection with Australia of the Mawhood family I find interesting. If you google Mawhood and Oberon or Bathurst (both of which are 3 or 4 hours drive west of Sydney) you will see the very strong connections of the family with that area. I wonder what the reason was for the return to the UK by Margaret and her family in 1865? I suspect having family back here was one of the reasons for exporting tools here - but then the Sorbys and other did with no (?) family connections. I might try emailing one of the Mawhood family historians to see if there is any tradition about it. Regards, Tim