This branch of the Beet family came from Wortley, where John Beet was a husbandman.  He married Hannah Smith and had several sons, some of whom were apprenticed as cutlers.   Baptismal and apprenticeship records show that John’s sons, Thomas (bapt.1758) and Jonathan (1762-1837), were apprenticed to Thomas Smith, a cutler at Broad Lane.  Jonathan became a Freeman in 1774.   In the Sheffield directory (1787), Widow Beet & Sons was listed at Broad Lane, using the mark ‘BEET’.  This may have been the Wortley Beets, though the mark had previously been used by Jeremiah Beet.  What is certain is that Jonathan Beet and the Smiths (Thomas and William) became partners.  Apparently, Jonathan had married into the family: his wife was Sarah Smith (1765-1835).  In 1790, Smith, Beet & Co was dissolved, when William Smith withdrew.  In 1797, Smith & Beet (trade mark ‘BEET’) was listed at 64/65 Broad Lane as a maker of pen, pocket, and table knives.   Curiously, The Leeds Intelligencer, 7 April 1800, reported the death ‘a few days ago’ of Jonathan Beet, merchant, of Sheffield.  This was not apparently the Jonathan at Broad Lane.  In 1801, he ended his partnership with the Smiths (Thomas and William) and agreed to pay any outstanding debts.  

At this point, the history of the Beets in Broad Lane becomes more complicated.  Jonathan had other brothers: notably, John (bapt.1760), William (bapt.1765), Joseph (bapt.1767), and Richard (bapt.1770).  The latter was trained by Jonathan and became a Freeman in 1804.  Joseph may have been the ‘factor’, who purchased his Freedom in 1809.   Directories show that the Beets were active in Broad Lane under various partnerships (J. & R. Beet & Co (1811, 1821), J. & I. [J?] Beet & Co (1816), with Jonathan listed independently (1816, 1818, 1821).

In 1812, Jonathan had leased land in Broad Lane from the Church Burgesses and built a house worth £750.   He also acquired land in Beet Street, which bound him to build another dwelling house (though this never materialised).   Beet Street had appeared in local town plans drawn during the 1790s, when the Beets had started trading in that locality.  A family connection with the street name would seem logical, though interestingly the Beets always gave their address as Broad Lane.  Their premises and property were opposite St George’s Church, on the corner where Broad Lane intersected with Beet Street.   In 1816, Jonathan had also leased property in Allen Street, though Broad Lane remained the main focus for the family.  

In 1821, Joseph Beet acquired a small plot of ground fronting Broad Lane for use as a forecourt.  Later that year, the partners in J. & R. Beet – John Beet, William Beet, Joseph Beet, Richard Beet, and Thomas Couldwell – purchased the leasehold of a plot of land near Broad Lane, which had eight dwelling houses with workshops, smithies, and out-buildings.  However, by the end of 1821 the business had been dissolved, after the death of Couldwell (his executor was Hannah Beet).  Joseph’s name continued to appear in directories as a table knife manufacturer at Wheeldon Street; Thomas operated an iron and steel warehouse at 106 Broad Lane; and later the names of Thomas and William appeared as merchants at St George’s Place during the 1840s.  Their death dates have so far proved untraceable.

Meanwhile, Jonathan consolidated his property leases at Broad Lane and became a ‘wholesale cutler’.  During the 1820s, Jonathan Beet & Sons was established as a merchant, table, pen and pocket knife and file manufacturer, and steel converter, at 56 Broad Lane, St George’s.  Jonathan’s sons (by his wife, Sarah) were Thomas (bapt.1798-1869) and William Jonathan (bapt.1800-1869).   Presumably, Jonathan retired from the day-to-day running of the business.  He died at his residence in Broad Lane on 10 July 1845, aged 84.  Unfortunately, his obituary in The Sheffield Independent, 12 July 1845) provided no information on his business career.  Instead it praised his ‘uprightness and integrity of action’ in the religious sphere.  He had been a Wesleyan Methodist and, like Daniel Holy, worshipped at Norfolk Street Chapel.  Jonathan was buried with the remains of his wife at Carver Street Methodist Chapel.

In 1851, Jonathan Beet’s house in Broad Lane, with warehouse and workshops ‘well adapted for almost any branch of the Sheffield trade’; and workshops, stable, and furnace in Beet Street were auctioned (Sheffield In-dependent, 31 May 1851).  His sons had more ambitious plans than simply cutlery.  In 1851, they and Walter Griffith built Agenoria Works, an integrated steel and tool making complex, on Savile Street East.   The Census (1851) enumerated William J. Beet at Oak Hill House, Mount Pisgah, as a ‘manufacturer of Sheffield goods and colliery owner’, employing 130 men; Thomas was living in Beet Street and a manufacturer of cutlery and files, employing 100 men.  By 1858, Jonathan Beet, Sons, & Griffith was bankrupt (Peace, 1999).  William absconded to the Continent.  He died on 11 February 1869 at Homburg, Germany, aged 68.   His son, Joseph Agar Beet (1840-1924), became a prominent Wesleyan theologian.  Thomas moved to London as a hardware agent and died in obscurity.  He was found dead in bed at New North Road on 11 June 1869, aged 71.   Death from ‘natural causes’  (heart disease) was the inquest verdict (Islington Gazette, 18 June 1869).