H. Elshaw and son?

Hi!
I recently received two Sheffield razors as a gift.

Attachment 200619

The top blade is a Christopher Johnson.

Attachment 200620

The bottom is an H. Elshaw and son.

Attachment 200621

The gentleman who was kind enough to gift these to me sent along a link to this work, which mentions a Mr. Elshaw as one of the best grinders employed by George Wostenholm at the time.

http://fm.typepad.com/files/shefield...ey20121126.pdf

Anyone who might be able to shed a bit more light onto the origins of either blade, but most particularly the H. Elshaw and son, would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Nice! I have a few Chris Johnsons as well. Some info on those would be great!

Hi Mike,

The link you posted keeps taking me to a document in the Hawley Collection in Sheffield. This is a page from a longer interview Ken Hawley had with Mr. Bill Hukin, referred to as "The Last Razor Grinder" in Sheffield. Ken's interview was conducted with a pencil and a pad, hence the pencil illustrations.

With regard to your razor there is a little confusion. For instance one line of Elshaw's goes back to William Elshaw, a man who was brought up in a foundling hospital. Born in 1758, died in 1839, William Elshaw was apprenticed to Luke Staniforth between 1778 - 1785 and gained his freedon as a sicklesmith in 1791. He also married Anne Stanniforth.

R.W. Leader in his "History of the Cutlers Company of Sheffield" mentions both William Elshaw and his son William, who was in 1801 apprenticed to Thomas Goodison (a razor grinder) for 8 yrs. James, son of Willian (the elder) was apprenticed to his father in 1809 for 7 years. William had a large family:

James
Hannah
William
James (sickle and scythe maker)
Ann
George (died in infancy, 15 months old)
Fanny, and George

No 'H. Elshaw" though, but he might have been a grandson.

Indeed, there was a Henry Elshaw born in 1820 (or 1819 according to some records) in Sheffield. His parents wre William and Susannah Elshaw - this William (the one that married Susannah) was the son of William (raised in the Foudling Hospital and whose trade was sicklesmith) and Anne Elshaw. In the 1851 census Henry appears as a razor grinder, but in the 1861 census he is recorded as 'grocer'. In the 1871 and 1891 census records he is recorded as 'retired grocer'. The 1851 census records him as having a 3 yr old son - Henry jnr.

There also appears to have been another razorsmith - one P. Elshaw. No doubt he was connected in some way to the original William.

Regards,
Neil

Neil, thanks for the info. Sounds like maybe the same Henry Elshaw in "The Sheffield Indexers" here.

The Sheffield Indexers - Trade Directories

But it also mentions 4 other Henry Elshaws, though none grinders, so hard to know for sure. I know the English kept really good records, but with the quantity of razors ( and everything else) built in that area there are bound to be a few that slip through the cracks.