© SCC Picture Sheffield [y03540] - selection of Pearson's stainless steel cutlery fitted with Crown Derby and Crown Staffordshire handle
Trade advertisements dated this company to 1820. The first directory listing was in 1837, when Samuel Pearson, razor manufacturer, Eldon Street, was in partnership with William Hawcroft. Pearson had been born in about 1802 in Ickles, Rotherham. By 1841, Hawcroft and Pearson had launched their own enterprises and they dissolved their partnership in 1845. Pearson remained in Eldon Street and traded as a merchant. By 1847, he partnered Benjamin Winks, selling cutlery and general provisions (such as porter). However, in 1851 Pearson became bankrupt. By 1856, Samuel Pearson & Co was listed in directories. The product line included (besides ‘celebrated razors’) table knives, pen and pocket knives, Britannia metal, and coffee services. Pearson had an agent in Hamburg. The trade mark was a picture of a wing above the word ‘TIME’.
Samuel Pearson, merchant, Eldon Street, died on 5 March 1870, aged 68, and was buried in Ecclesall. His son – also named Samuel – apparently continued to run the business, though he employed only one man in 1881. Samuel Jun. died on 15 July 1902, aged 66, leaving £2,175. He was buried in Ecclesall. Samuel Pearson – the grandson of the founder – continued to trade as S. Pearson & Co Ltd (registered in 1907 with £1,000 capital). He lived in Roselyn Crescent, Hathersage. Pearson’s was still listed at 61 Eldon Street in the 1940s, though by then its business was forging cutlery blades. In the 1950s, it moved to Hawks Works, Mary Street, where it continued as a cutlery forger and maker of stainless steel table cutlery. It used the trade names ‘MANDATE’ and ‘HAWKEDGE’, with the slogan ‘SHARP AS A HAWK’. By 1965, the firm was no longer working.