John Derby (1813-1912) was born in Sheffield, the son of George Derby (a shoe maker) and his wife.  Mary.  In 1851, he was living with his parents in Cavendish Street.  His father was aged 79; his mother was 65.  The former died in the following year from ‘decay’.  John had been apprenticed to Thos. Turner & Co and in 1851 was a table knife manager, possibly at Ogden Brothers, where he became partner.  Ogden Bros & Derby ceased business in 1861 and three years later Derby launched his own business in St Philip’s Road as a table cutlery manufacturer.  By 1879, when he advertised in a local directory as a supplier of the home and foreign trade, the location was St Philip’s Road and Malinda Street.  He traded particularly with Australia.

By 1901, John Derby had retired,  aged 88.  He had brought his sons – Thomas George Derby (1857-1902) and Arthur Richard Walker Derby (1863-1933) – into the firm.  After Thomas’s death on 1 August 1902 (leaving £1,099), Arthur operated the firm.  John Derby died on 17 May 1912, aged 98.  Press obituaries described him as a Conservative, Churchman, and an avid student of phrenology.  He had spent most of his life living and working in St Philip’s Road.  ‘When he wanted a holiday he went, not round the world, but to Wharncliffe Side, delighting in the beautiful country and the refreshing breezes that blew over it ‘(Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 22 May 1912).  The Sheffield Independent, 20 May 1912, ran a feature, ‘Nearly a Hundred’, which identified Derby as the author of Historical and Antiquarian Sketches of the Neighbourhood of Sheffield (1863), published in Sheffield under the pseudonym of Johann Zimmermann.  Part of the interest of the volume is that it follows the path of the Sheffield Flood to Dale Dyke Dam, the year before the dam broke and drowned 250 people.  Derby was buried in the General Cemetery, leaving £1,482.

John Derby & Sons remained at 260 St Philip’s Road until the early 1930s. Arthur R. W. Derby, of Beech Hurst, Crookesmoor Road, died on 30 May 1933, leaving £13,366.  The business was incorporated in 1934 (capital £1,000) and was managed by Arthur’s son, John, at 32 Victoria Street.  It concentrated on cutlery and plate for hotels, ship, and stores.  In 1955, the firm was liquidated, but the name reappeared at Victoria Works, Milton Street, and then Beehive Works, Milton Street.  The latter was the address of Gregory Fenton, which had presumably acquired the assets and marks: a sickle and the word ‘PLENTY’ (granted in 1844); and ‘WILKUT’.  The name disappeared after 1970.