‘Alexander & Co’ has been seen on early Sheffield stainless table knives.  They may have been marketed by H. T. Alexander, a jeweller at Woodhead Road.  This was Harry Talbot Alexander, who was probably born in Sheffield in about 1896 and first listed in a directory in 1922.  His father was a watchmaker, Louis (later Lewis) Alexander, who was from Germany.  The family was likely Jewish. 

Harry’s original name was apparently Henry (the second son of Louis and his wife Sara).   Harry Talbot Alexander married Lillian May Jepson in 1922.  In 1928, they separated – the same year that Harry filed for bankruptcy.  He had sold the business for £900, but was still in debt to the bank (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 25 January 1929).   He apparently resumed trading.   In 1932, H. T. Alexander & Co, London Road, advertised Smith’s clocks (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 6 May 1932).   Harry T. Alexander’s subsequent life is untraced.

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