Henry Lee was a merchant and table knife manufacturer.  Little is known about his background, though he may have been baptised in 1782, the son of Paul (a cutler).  Henry’s first traceable business address was in 1837 in Mulberry Street.  He lived in Fitzwilliam Street.  By 1841, he had launched Lee & Middleton, manufacturers of table knives, silver and plated desserts, steel refiners, etc, at Mulberry Street.  His partner was William Middleton (1789-1841), who was the son of a John Middleton (1746-1816), a local cotton mill owner, and his wife, Ann.  Middleton had connections with America (see Middleton, Newton & Middleton).  Unfortunately, William died in 1841 and Lee & Middleton was dissolved.  Its ‘successor’ was Henry Lee & Co.  This firm advertised in the 1845 directory from New Church Street, using the trademark ‘EUREKA’.   Henry Lee recruited as partners his son, George Henry, and William W. Brumby and William Middleton (1811-1891).  The latter was the nephew of the above-named William.  By 1846, Brumby and Middleton had left to start a business under their own names.  Henry and his son continued as Lee & Son, razor manufacturers, though they soon became insolvent (Sheffield Independent, 11 November 1848).  Henry’s wife, Sarah, died in 1847, aged 69.  The General Cemetery register recorded the death of 79-year-old Henry Lee, ‘table knife manufacturer’, Gloucester Street, on 4 December 1861.  His burial was unconsecrated.