Creswick is a distinctive Sheffield name and the family prided itself in being one of the oldest in the cutlery trade.  Six Creswicks served as Masters Cutler between 1630 and 1667. This firm began in 1810 as T. & J. Creswick, when it entered its first silver mark in Sheffield under Thomas Creswick (1788-1863) and James Creswick (1789-1854).  They were the sons of James Creswick, a file manufacturer and silver-plater, and his wife Mary née Smith.  In 1811, its four Crossed Arrows (depicting Sheffield’s Arms) was registered as a plate mark.  Thomas and James operated first at Porter Street and then in Browne Street, after their brother Nathaniel (1793-1855) joined them in about 1817.  James and Nathaniel registered another silver mark in 1819, when T.J. & N. Creswick was formed.

By 1825, T. J. & N. Creswick had settled at Paternoster Row and by the 1830s it also had a London address in the Strand.  Creswick’s became one of the outstanding Sheffield Plate firms, whose products are well illustrated in Bradbury (1912)¹.  It registered further silver marks in Sheffield in 1831 and 1852.  The firm made silver fruit-knives and dessert knives, and also fish carvers, butter knives, and other silver tableware.  It was awarded a Prize Medal at the Great Exhibition (1851).  According to the 1851 Census entry for James, the business employed 50 men.  Apparently, Elkington’s electro-plate process was offered to Creswick’s, but they refused.  This occurred as the Creswicks were passing out of the business.  James Creswick, Moorgate, Crookesmoor, died on 14 August 1854, aged 64.  Nathaniel died on 22 November 1855 at his residence East Hill House, Park.  He was buried at Christ Church, Heeley.  (James’s son, Thomas John Creswick, attempted to launch his own business, but failed.) Thomas Creswick died at Grange Cottage, Ecclesall, on 15 December 1863, aged 75.  He was buried in Ecclesall and left under £6,000.  After 1857, trustees gradually sold most of the stock and plant and tools, but in 1858 a silver mark was registered from Paternoster Row by Creswick & Co.  The new partners were Nathaniel Irving, Charles Favell, and Frederick Potter (London).

By 1862, only Favell was operating the firm.  In that year, the plant, machinery, and 2,000 dies of Creswick & Co were auctioned (Sheffield Independent, 28 July 1862).  However, Creswick & Co continued to trade under Charles Favell and his brother, Rupert.  In 1863, they registered a silver mark from Sycamore Street.  The firm’s later address was Arundel Street, where it employed 28 men, five women, and five boys in 1871; and 24 men and six women in 1881.  The Favells dissolved their partnership in 1879, leaving Charles to continue until 1886.  By then, Charles and Rupert had established their own firms (Charles Favell & Co, and R. Favell & Co).

¹ Bradbury, F., History of Old Sheffield Plate (London, 1912)