Joseph Bett Thompson (1878-1955) was born in Sheffield, the son of Charles Thompson (1850-1900) and his wife, Judith.  Charles was a bone cutter, who partnered John Winterbottom in Winterbottom & Thompson, bone cutters.   In 1881, they employed five men and three boys.  Joseph began his working life as an errand boy in his father’s warehouse.  On the morning of 2 February 1900, Charles Thompson collapsed from a stroke at Canton Works, West Street, and died the same evening.  He was aged 50.   He was buried in Burngreave Cemetery, leaving £2,593.  Judith continued the business with her son, but in 1905 (when he registered a silver mark) Joseph launched his own business as a handle and scale cutter in ivory and bone at Columbia Works, 70 & 72 West Street.   

On 22 August 1919 the factory was the scene of a tragedy, when a xylonite fire destroyed the 3-storey premises.  Everyone escaped, except 38-year-old Benjamin Wildsmith, who became wedged in an upstairs window frame.   ‘In sight of a large crowd, powerless to rescue him, he gradually roasted to death’ (Hull Daily Mail, 23 August 1919).  The business relocated to Columbia Works, Eyre Street.  By 1919, the firm still sold ivory and stag, but had branched into insulation materials, such as asbestos.  It had engineering facilities at Cremorne Works, Hermitage Street.  Thompson’s had apparently ceased trading by 1930.  Joseph Bett Thompson, Commonside, died on 10 April 1955, aged 74.  He left £625.