According to Bradbury (1912)¹, this was the earliest Sheffield Plate factory (a claim also made for Joseph Hancock) and the first to apply horse-power in rolling the metal.  Crosskey (2011)² suggests that it had the largest output of the silver-plate firms.  It was founded some time before 1758 by Henry Tudor (1738-1803) and Thomas Leader, with capital provided by Dr John Sherburn (1731-1772).  The latter was a medical man; Tudor was from a family of Welsh tanners; Leader came from Essex, but had trained as a London silversmith before moving to Sheffield.  The firm manufactured snuff boxes.  In 1773, Tudor & Leader was one of the first firms to register a mark at the Sheffield Assay Office, of which Henry Tudor later became a Guardian.   In 1783, Samuel Nicholson (d. 1799) was taken into the partnership.  In 1785, these men were joined by Daniel Leader, the younger brother of Thomas, who was apprenticed in 1762.  The capital of the business was about £18,000.  With his firm prospering, Henry became prominent in town affairs.  He was described as a ‘stately gentleman of the old school, and rather dogmatic’ (Sheffield Independent, 14 September 1872).  His pomposity earned him the title of ‘My Lord Harry’.

By 1793, Thomas Leader had retired to Essex, handing over his interests to his son, Thomas Jun.  The latter excited local interest when he eloped to Gretna Green with Sarah, the daughter and heiress of John Henfrey, whose workshops were nearby.  After various management changes, Tudor, Leaders & Nicholson was dissolved in 1796.  Daniel Leader then registered a mark in Surrey Street in 1797; and another in the following year with Thomas Leader Jun.  This partnership ended in 1810.  Leader (1905)³ stated that Thomas Jun’s involvement with outside affairs, particularly the Volunteer movement (which brought him the title of Colonel), and his reckless business decisions, harmed the firm.  The assets were advertised for sale in 1814.   Daniel Leader died on 25 June 1817, aged 72, and was buried in St Paul’s churchyard; Thomas died in Broxted, Essex, in 1819, aged 84.   Col. Leader died at Pye Bank on 4 June 1833, aged 63 (his wife Sarah predeceased him in June 1811).  Robert Leader, the son of Daniel, had been briefly involved with the business, but later owned The Sheffield Independent.  Part of the firm’s old premises in Tudor Street (then Sycamore Hill) was later occupied by John Round.   Thomas’s residence, Leader House, built in about 1780, stands in Surrey Street, opposite the Central Library.  R. E. Leader, the antiquarian and grandson of Robert, wrote an account of the firm (Sheffield Independent, 16 June 1900).

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

^2. Crosskey, Gordon, Old Sheffield Plate: A History of the 18th Century Plated Trade (Sheffield, 2011)

^3. Leader, R E, Sheffield in the Eighteenth Century (Sheffield, 2nd edn, 1905)