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-180.jpg) The
Historical Overview
for William & Samuel
Butcher was written
by
Geoffrey Tweedale,
Professor of
Business History at
Manchester
Metropolitan
University Business
School.
Geoffrey Tweedale
studied history at
Queen Mary College,
University of
London, and then
enrolled at the
London School of
Economics. At
the LSE, he
developed an
interest in American
economic history
under the
supervision of two
dedicated
Americanists, Jim
Potter and the late
Charlotte J.
Erickson. His
PhD thesis in 1983
looked at the
transfer of
Sheffield steel and
tool technologies to
the USA in the 19th
century.
The
information you find
in this History
Review is the most
reliable and
accurate in
existence today.
It clarifies several
important points in
Butchers' history,
especially their
association with the
Wades (there were
two of them), the
use of "Wade &
Butcher" trade mark,
and involvement of
William Butcher in
the development of
steel in America (it
was William Butcher
Jr. - not William
from W. & S.
Butcher). The
essay also provides
a direction for
possible further
research into the
history of this
important
enterprise.
The firm of
William & Samuel
Butcher intrigued me
for a long time.
At the beginning of
my affair with old
tools I remember
seeing some plane
irons and chisels on
eBay and these tools
prompted questions.
Who are the makers
of these tools?
 I
was particularly
impressed with a
trade mark on plane
irons. It
looked very ornate
and somewhat
mysterious. I
searched for more
information about
the makers on the
Internet, but
results were rather
meager.
A few years went by,
a few saws with a W.
Butcher stamp found
their way to my shop
and rested on the
shelf with a few
other saws made by
English sawmakers.
My search for
information on W. &
S. Butcher didn't
advance much.
A few years ago I
found short vignette
about them on the
TiltHammer.com
site. I also
noticed that there
are websites
dedicated to "Wade &
Butcher" razor
blades.
Apparently, things
had moved forward a
bit, but the
information about W.
& S. Butcher was
still very scant.
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Everything
changed with
my
acquaintance
with
Geoffrey
Tweedale at
the
beginning of
last year.
Geoffrey
"Tweedale's
Directory of
Sheffield
Cutlery
Manufacturers
1740 - 2010"
was
published in
2010 and it
has been
advertized
on this
website
since 2011.
Since then
Geoffrey and
I stayed in
touch.
I took the
opportunity
to pick his
brain on
many aspects
of
toolmaking
in Sheffield
and found a
responsive
friend in
Geoff.
He provided
me with
answers to
questions I
had, some
additional
material
from his
personal
research,
and
suggestions
for further
steps in my
information
search.
Before we
met (over
the phone
and email) I
already had
two of his
books in my
library and
I used them
frequently
in my work
on American
saw and
other
toolmakers. |
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Tweedale’s Directory
of Sheffield Cutlery Manufacturers
1740 – 2010
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A
few weeks ago we had
a conversation about
Butchers and my
difficulties in
finding reliable
information about
them. Hearing
my desperation and
disappointment,
Geoffrey offered to
write an essay about
the brothers and
post it on this
website.
I
hurriedly agreed!
July, 2012
Wiktor Kuc
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