Thread: Geo. Wostenholm & Son

Can anyone shed some light on when these razors were manufactured?
I've looked through the search facility and can't seem to find much.
Would it be around c.1815?
TIA
Geoff

i dunno... but i have one of their pipe razors and i freakin love it.... it is one of my favorites.....

George Wostenholme began business in 1745. According to Goins' he dropped the "e" from his name in 1815. In 1837 his son was added to the company's name and it became George Wostenholm & Son. After about 1850 it seems the "Son" was sometimes used and sometimes not used. The company was bought out by Joesph Rodgers in 1971. Since there apparently was no "e" in Wostenholm when the son joined the company, check the spelling on your razor to be sure. (Photos always help.) If there is an "e", it might take a little more research.

Regards - Walt

A good place to start looking for manufacturers and dates of operation, after searching SRP, is to check out Uniclectica.

Straight Razor Manufacturers and Dates of Operation

Their entry on Wosteys:

WOSTENHOLM, GEORGE
Sheffield
1797 - 1823 ("Old Sheffield Razors" by Lummus. Antiques, December 1922 p.261-267)

GEORGE WOSTENHOLM & SON
Successors to George Wostenholm in 1823 ("Old Sheffield Razors" by Lummus. Antiques, December 1922 p.261-267)
Rockingham Works ca. 1694 - 1847
Washington Works, Sheffield ca. 1847 - at least 1991

James.

Originally Posted by Walt

George Wostenholme began business in 1745. According to Goins' he dropped the "e" from his name in 1815. In 1837 his son was added to the company's name and it became George Wostenholm & Son. After about 1850 it seems the "Son" was sometimes used and sometimes not used. The company was bought out by Joesph Rodgers in 1971. Since there apparently was no "e" in Wostenholm when the son joined the company, check the spelling on your razor to be sure. (Photos always help.) If there is an "e", it might take a little more research.

Regards - Walt

Thanks Walt - after another look at the photo (I haven't got the razor yet) it is impossible to read the tang, however the box reads 'Geo. Wostenholm & Son.'
I believe at some time it became Geo Wostenholme & Sons, too
I really hate low res photos...grrrr

Originally Posted by paco664

i dunno... but i have one of their pipe razors and i freakin love it.... it is one of my favorites.....

I'm doing the final polish on one tonight and, after I put the scales back on and hone it, I'll probably shave with it tomorrow.
I'm so looking forward to it.
My 'George Jochan, Sheffield' is an absolutely amazing shaver.

Wostenholm, George & Son - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Geo. Wostenholm & Son, Sheffield, England. The company was founded in 1745 in Stannington by George Wostenholme (born 1717) and later run by his son Henry, under the correct spelling of the surname "Wostenholme" but as this was too long to fit on the tangs of penknives it was shortened to "Wostenholm" in 1815. The second George Wostenholme (Henry's son) ran the company with Henry until Henry died in 1803, and the firm relocated to Sheffield. The third George Wostenholm (the 'e' now lost) joined the firm at the famous Rockingham works around 1820.

A trade directory from the 1820s calls the firm "George Wostenhome & Son, so the presence or absence of an 'e' is not really a reliable indicator of date. In 1830 William Stenton (known as 'Devil Stenton' for his habit of bullying workers when he worked for Naylor & Sanderson before going on to work on his own account) was taken into the partnership, but George had already fallen out with him by 1831 and the partnership was dissolved. Stenton later traded as William Stenton & Son in New York.

This - the most famous George - proved to be a very able and astute businessman, but a bit of a tyrant to work for, introducing the "fourteen to the dozen" work rule. By the time his father died in 1833 the American continent had opened up for the company, and soon their trade was nearly exclusively with America. In 1848 another factory was bought, named the Washington Works in honour of America. Not a lot of records survive from this era as Wostenholm is said to have destroyed most of them before his death. Frederick Fenney's mark - 'Tally-Ho' was purchased by the company in 1863. By the 1870s they had also acquired James Bingham's 'Congruent' mark. George was quite a character, riding into work on his horse, dealing with business papers in church, getting the coveted title of Master Cutler, becoming a Justice of the Peace and the chairman of a brewery. George Wostenholm sold out his business interest to others in 1875, when the firm became a limited company, and he died in 1876. In 1971 the company was sold to Joseph Rodgers and the Washington Works was demolished.

Regards,
Neil

At the end ...
After the WWII, when part of Washington Works was destroyed by a German bomb, Wostenholm's was poorly positioned to exploit the economic upturn in the 1950s and early 1960s. Competition was also growing from the Far East, which would eventually drive Wostenholm's out of business. In 1961, the firm made several acquisitions - for example, Christopher Johnson, Champion - to strengthen the company, especially in the scissor market. However, in 1971 Wostenholm itself was bought by Joseph Rodgers and the new company, Rodgers-Wostenholm, moved to Guernsey Road. In 1975 this joint firm was bought by Richards, which in turn was bought in 1977 by Imperial Knife, an American firm based in New York. However, the business never made money for its American owners and by 1983 the Richards-Rodgers-Wostenholm group was bankrupt. Washington Works and the company records had been demolished in 1978. The I*XL mark was acquired by Egginton.
It was the end of a remarkable story.

I really hate to necro this thread, but I have what appears to be a Wostenholm with no other marking other than Wostenholm.

To me, this would place it before the move to Sheffield and the Washington Works, but I'm not sure. Anyone able to shed some light on that?