A manufacturer of Britannia metal and electro-plated goods, this enterprise was founded in 1871 as Ridge, Woodcock & Hardy.  The partners were Joseph Ridge, Thomas Woodcock (1843-1930), and William Radford Hardy (1838-1894).   Woodcock and Hardy lived in Heeley.  The firm’s offices were in Eldon Place, Eldon Street.   It won an Honourable Mention at the Paris Exhibition (1878) for that traditional product – Sheffield Plate.  In 1880, Ridge left and the firm became Woodcock & Hardy.  Thomas Hardy, who was born in about 1843, seems to have been the senior partner.  In 1881, the firm employed nearly thirty workers.  The company featured in The Ironmonger (12 November 1887), which stated that it employed about a hundred workers (probably an exaggeration) and that most of its products were exported.  Woodcock & Hardy’s trade mark was a diamond, enclosing the letters ‘X’ and ‘TRA’.  

After Hardy’s death in 1894, aged 57 (and burial at Christ Church, Heeley), the firm was dissolved.  However, Thomas Woodcock & Sons was later formed in Norfolk Place, Suffolk Road.  Thomas Woodcock Sen. was joined by his son, who was also named Thomas.   Thomas Woodcock Sen., Cobnar Road, Woodseats, died on 27 February 1930, age 87.  He left £106 to his son Henry Woodcock (1871-1958), who apparently continued to trade in Eyre Lane until his death on 25 April 1958.   He left £2,846.