The Whittingtons were members of a working-class family, who lived in Occupation Road, Brightside.  Several men in the family were knife grinders.  One was Thomas Whittington, who died on 7 November 1852, aged 57, and had worked at Joseph Rodgers & Sons as a pen-blade grinder for 45 years.  His brother, Joseph Whittington, was born in about 1800 and also worked as a pen-knife grinder at Joseph Rodgers & Sons.   He died on 4 July 1854, aged 54, and – like his brother – was buried in the General Cemetery.  Grinding was not a long-lived profession and Brightside was not noted for its fresh air and healthy living conditions.   The burial register noted that Joseph had died of ‘decline’.  We would know little more about him, if his fellow workers had not commissioned a memorial tablet from sculptor Edwin Smith (which according to Himsworth, 1953¹, was set in the wall of Norfolk Works).   Its whereabouts are unknown, but it was inscribed:

In Memory of Joseph Whittington, Grinder
Who by Correct Taste United by Rare Skill
                         As a Workman
      Enhanced the Fame of Sheffield in Its
                    Staple Manufactures
Numerous Specimens of his Workmanship
                 Are in the Showrooms of
                  Joseph Rodgers & Sons
                        His Private Worth
            Equalled His Skill as an Artisan
                         And This Tablet
     Has Been Erected to His Memory By His
                          Fellow Workmen
             In Token of His Estimation of His
                    Character and Abilities
                                   1854

^1. Himsworth, J B, The Story of Cutlery:  From Flint to Stainless Steel (London, 1953)