William (1748-1833), John (1751-1831), and Robert (1753-1822) were the sons of John Wright (a clothier from Hunslet, near Leeds) and his wife, Mary.  The brothers were baptised as Quakers.  They were apprenticed to cutlers (as detailed in Leader, 1905-06¹) and became Freemen in 1773 (William and John) and 1777 (Robert).  In 1787, their firm was listed as a merchant and manufacturer of a range of cutlery, including pocket knives (and ‘Jacks’), razors, and table knives.  The firm had a complex group of marks, which included the figure ‘8’ and letters ‘CV’.  The partnership was based in Smithfield.  In 1789, John Wright (presumably the Wright mentioned above) registered a silver mark as a plate worker from that address.  The location in directories was Allen Street (1811), Cross Smithfield (1816), and Allen Street (1822).  The partnership was ended by Robert’s death on 20 April 1822, ‘after a long and sometimes painful affliction’ (Sheffield Independent, 27 April 1822).  John Wright died on 19 November 1831, after an illness of three days.  His brief obituary described him as a partner for more than forty years (Sheffield Independent, 26 November 1831).   William Wright died in Southport on 7 October 1833.  Robert and John were buried in the Quaker burial ground at Sheffield; William’s burial was at a Quaker cemetery at Liverpool.   His eldest son, Thomas, died on 31 December 1846 near Hudson, New York State.

^1. Leader, R. E., History of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire in the County of York (Sheffield, 1905-6)