Thread: W. Swift 7/8

Does anyone have any information on the Sheffield maker W. Swift. A 7/8 blade, 1/4 hollow to wedge grind. Horn scales with lead wedge.

No information on the razor, but had to say its a nice looking razor. Slight smile, with what looks like a french point and a nice grind. Whats not to like.

Yup, nice razor... did you do a search?

Only thing I've found so far is in the 1851 UK census. William Swift occupation spring knife cutler. Age 62. Born in Sheffield abt. 1789. Could be him. I'm guessing the blade dates from 1840 to 1870.

In tweedale's book there a listing for William Swift, table knife manufacturer in 1833, but he died in 1836 at the age of 39...

That is a lovely catch! Clean it, hone it and enjoy it! It should be a pleasant shaver!
~Richard

Very nice looking razor.


Mike

There's a huge number of William Swifts in Sheffield at the requisite time - one an attendant in an asylum, one an engine tender, one a cutler, one a spring knife maker, etc, etc, etc - too many to mention!

Is there anything on the tang after W. Swift, such as England or Ltd - there seems to be a ghost of a letter by the scales.

One other thing - who said the forename was William? Without further evidence it could just as well be Walter, Willard, Wade, Winston, Wilmot or Wallace...

Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

There's a huge number of William Swifts in Sheffield at the requisite time - one an attendant in an asylum, one an engine tender, one a cutler, one a spring knife maker, etc, etc, etc - too many to mention!

Is there anything on the tang after W. Swift, such as England or Ltd - there seems to be a ghost of a letter by the scales.

One other thing - who said the forename was William? Without further evidence it could just as well be Walter, Willard, Wade, Winston, Wilmot or Wallace...

Regards,
Neil

Nothing else is on the tang but W. Swift. I even looked at 30X. In the 1851 UK census William was the only given name that started with a W. of the Swifts in Sheffield that was a cutler that I saw. Just a guess and a place to start. Lots more digging to do.
BTW Neil my mothers family came from Cornwall England to Canada in 1866. Tin and Copper miners. Great great grandfather was born in Sithney. Their sir name was Sarah. Other side of her families sir name was Thorne and came to Boston in 1637.
I flew a lot of missions out of St. Mawgan when I was in the Navy. Loved the pubs and beer

Not to muddy the waters anymore, but we should also consider that W Swift may have been a factor, reseller or barber that had his name stamped on tha tang, a lot of people did that then, some still do it now.

For my part, a census listing with "razor maker" would clinch it. "Cutler" is a bit vague and could include both makers and those who owned cutlery stores, while "spring knife cutlers" basically made folding knives. Sure, some could and did make razors, bht thes guys followed a rigid discipline usually, like edgedtool makers, fork and table cutlery makers, file makers, etc. What I mean is although they may all be members of the cutlers guild, tney followed their own trades. Like the Lords House, the Cutlers Guild has many rooms.

Regards,
Neil