Arthur Kirk was born 1869 the son of John Kirk, a spring knife maker living in Sheffield Park.  By 1891 Arthur was employed as a cutlery warehouseman along with his younger brother, Frank, who was a cutler..  Arthur married Fanny Whitham in 1893 and they had a son, John Willis Kirk (1897-1972), and several daughters.

In the Census (1901), Arthur was a spring knife manager.  In 1905, he was listed in the local directory as a cutler, Sheaf Market.  By 1911, he was a cutlery dealer at that address.  Arthur continued to be listed as a cutlery dealer at Sheaf Market in the 1920s.  The directory (1933) listed him only at his residence 116 Myrtle Road (possibly he had relinquished the shop).  But in the same directory Arthur Kirk was listed as a cutler, Eyre Street  (possibly the same man?).

Arthur Kirk, ‘master cutler’, died at 116 Myrtle Road in 1943, aged 74 (his burial was at City Road Cemetery on 24 April).  Fanny had died on 15 November 1937, aged 72.

After Arthur's death, the business was continued under the name 'Smith' by one of his daughters, Constance, who had married Frank W. Smith in 1928. Their son Robert D. Smith (b. 1931) was also involved between 1950 and 1995. He retailed cutlery etched with 'R. D. Smith'. The company was proud to sell Sheffield cutlery until it finally ceased trading in 2002.