One of the partners was Sheffield’s renowned local chronicler, Joseph Hunter (1783-1861). He was born at Cheney Row, the son of Michael Hunter (1759-1831) and Elizabeth née Girdler (1761-1787). His father was a merchant and forerunner of the cutlery manufacturer M. Hunter & Son. The death of his mother, when Joseph was a child, meant that he was entrusted to the care of a guardian, Rev. Joseph Evans of Upper Chapel (Manning, 19001). In 1797, when he was fourteen, Joseph Hunter was apprenticed to William Hatfield, a maker of knives. Evans paid a £100 premium ‘in consideration of young Hunter being taught the trade and occupation of a cutler, and provided with good, wholesome and sufficient meat, drink and lodging (“washing” erased), and sixteen pence a year wages’ (Leader, 1905-062). Joseph served seven years and became a Freeman in 1804. He was assigned the trade mark ‘2837’. He went into partnership with William Hatfield and John Settle. The identity of these men is somewhat unclear, but William Hatfield may have been involved later in Hatfield & Morton. John Settle may have been a silversmith.
But Joseph was a reluctant cutler. He later lamented that his father had been diverted from a professional career and relegated to an occupation beneath the level of his real talents. Joseph had no intention of making the same mistake (Hunter, 18463). In 1805, the partnerships with Hatfield and Settle were dissolved and he abandoned cutlery to become a Unitarian minister and antiquarian. He died on 9 May 1861 at Torrington Square, London. His tombstone can be seen at St Mary’s churchyard, Ecclesfield. He left under £9,000. His Indenture and Freedom were later presented to the Company of Cutlers.
1. Manning, John E, A History of Upper Chapel (Sheffield, 1900)
2. Leader, R E, History of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire in the County of York (Sheffield, 1905-6)
3. Hunter, Joseph, Gens Silvestrina: Memorials of Some of My Good and Religious Ancestors, or Eleven Generations of a Puritan Family (1846)