William Birks was a yeoman, who lived at Doe Royd, near Ecclesfield.  Four of his sons were apprenticed as cutlers.  One of them Jonathan, was trained under William Smith and became a Freeman (F) in 1694.  His trade mark was a ‘Tobacco Pipe’.  He was Master Cutler in 1714.  The pipe mark passed to his son, John (F 1726), who died in 1747; and later to William Birks, who was Master Cutler in 1766.  (William may have been the son of Henry Birks, who was a razor maker.)  The reputation of the Pipe mark was such that William issued a trade card in about 1750 warning against counterfeiters.  William’s offspring included William Jun. (bapt.1753-1807), Henry (bapt. 1754-?), John (bapt.1760-1804), and Louisa (bapt.1769-1826).  William and John became Freemen in 1774 and 1786, respectively.  

By the late eighteenth century, the Birks’ family manufactured pen knives and razors; and also branched into forks and silver-handled table knives.  Sketchley’s Sheffield Directory (1774) listed William Birks & Son, pen knife and razor maker, Norfolk Street (using the pipe with the word ‘LANGRES’).  This was presumably William Sen. and Jun.  Listed immediately below was Birks, Withers & Sykes, wood, ivory, and silver handle table knife manufacturers, Pinston Croft Lane (this was Pinstone Street at the Fargate end).  The directory added an N.B., ‘these strike four mark’, viz.: the pipe, ‘L’ESPAGNE, a lion, and ‘SYKES’.  Birks, Withers & Sykes had been one of the first firms to register a silver mark in 1773.  The original partners were William Birks Sen.; Benjamin Withers; John and Dennis Sykes.   The firm made high-quality table knives and other tableware.  Apparently, only the silver knife handles were assayed.  William Birks was also a partner in silver plater John Rowbotham (Sheffield Public Advertiser, 29 January 1774).

In 1780, Birks, Withers & Sykes was dissolved.  In 1781, William Birks & Son registered a silver mark from Norfolk Street.  When William Birks died in 1783, aged 55 (his burial was at St Paul’s), control passed to his sons, William Jun. and John.  In 1787, they were listed as manufacturers of razors and silver and plated table knives at Norfolk Street, using the pipe mark combined with a double ampersand device (which probably belonged to John).  William Jun. was Master Cutler in 1795.  John died in 1804, leaving under £1,000.  William died on 1 May 1807 (Hull Packet, 12 May 1807).  

By his marriage in 1782 to Barbara Wreaks (née Clark), William had two sons, William (bapt. 1785-1862) and John (bapt. 1786-1834).  They were listed as merchants and razor manufacturers at Norfolk Street until the early 1820s, when they left Sheffield to become tradesmen at Antwerp.  In 1826, William married Rebecca Acton at Antwerp.  But after his brother’s death, they returned to Sheffield, where Rebecca died in 1839 (she was buried at St Paul’s).  William worked as a warehouseman at a surgical instruments maker.  But he became destitute and was admitted to Shrewsbury Hospital in 1861, where he died in April the following year.  He was buried at St John’s, Park.