11 | February | 2019 | Collection Antique Used

Harrison Brothers & Howson Circa 1850's Antique English Multi Tool POCKET KNIFE

This listing is for a “Swiss Army” type multi tool pocket knife that would certainly PRE-DATE the creation of the ACTUAL Swiss Army knives by Victorinox and Wenger. (They were first produced in 1891). This knife would be the GENERAL’S RANK were it a Swiss Army knife?? I do not know exactly what all these wee tools are designed for? OR what their correct terminology is? ALL tools appear to be fully-functional, open & close correctly, and show no apparent “wobble” DESPITE the fact that this knife is designed to split-apart into 4-5 separate pieces. There are no locking blades on this massive multi-tool pocket knife. The big hook is for cleaning horse hooves and there appears to be a Firearms NIPPLE WRENCH for percussion guns. This part can detach, & is connected by some small “EARS” that show what appears to be an OLD period REPAIR (See last image) both “Ear Tabs” have been replaced skillfully MORE IMAGES available on request. SIZE = shown beside rulers in at least two images BOTH metric (MM) & Imperial (“Inches”). WEIGHT = approx 13 Oz or 315 Grams. Harrison Brothers & Howson received a ROYAL WARRANT as appointed manufacturers to Her Majesty Queen Victoria this particular knife was probably made PRIOR to that honour being announced, as it is not so-marked, as all their later-made pieces certainly would have been. Harrison Brothers & Howson, Sheffield. This was one of the biggest cutlery firms in Sheffield by 1900. It originated with George Howson, who was probably apprenticed as a cutler in 1803, and later became a merchant’s clerk (and apparently partner) at Thomas Sansom & Sons. He died in Norfolk Street on 9 December 1847, aged 59, but his son William Howson took over his father’s interests. The capital of the business, which was based at No. The mother of the Harrisons had once been married to John Brocksopp, a Derby-shire iron-master, so that linkage helped finance the new venture (Jenkins, 1996). William Howson became traveler for the firm, while Henry Harrison moved to America. The company had agents in New York City during the 1850s and 1880s, including W. Henry Harrison became Master Cutler in 1862. William Howson resigned from the partnership. He died on 5 July 1884, aged 62, at Tapton Park – his substantial house in Ranmoor (Warr, 2009). The funeral was at Fulwood Church. Under the Harrisons, the business continued to expand. In the 1880s, it occupied Shoreham Plate Works, Shoreham Street, for the production of silver and electro-plated goods. A silver mark had been registered in 1849 and the firm also acquired a Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria (and later one from King Edward VII). In 1881, the firm employed 257 workers (139 men, 61 boys, 39 women, and 18 girls). A business review, The Industries of Sheffield c. 1887, had this to say: At their cutlery works three hundred men are in constant work. On the first floor of this building are the offices – large, handsome and well-appointed rooms; adjoining is a heavily stocked showroom, where ivorree stock of every description is exhibited; near this is another showroom devoted to the display of butchers’ and other knives, carvers and forks to match, and smaller knives of chaste design and wonderfully fine and careful finish. These goods are packed in handsome plush cases, and from this room are dispatched to various parts of the world, North America and Australia absorbing an immense quantity. Descending from these rooms into a large and spacious yard, we found about twenty forges in operation, two skilled artizans attending to each. At the side of this is the ivorree-cutting shop, and underneath the yard are extensive and well-lighted cellars, which are utilized as warehouses for the Egyptian horns and African elephants tuskkss, which the firm import direct in immense quantities, and which are destined eventually to find their way to the dinner-table in the shape of knife handles. A great point of interest is found here in the powerful steam engine, by means of which the machinery throughout the factory is set in motion. Above the yard are seven shops for the seven different departments into which the manufacture of the products of the factory is divided. By the end of the century, most of the Harrisons had passed out of the business. Henry Harrison retired in 1892 and died in Bath on 20 October 1893 (aged 68). He was buried in Ecclesall. James William Harrison died at Tapton Grange, on 1 March 1897, aged 80, as one of the wealthiest men in the city. Harrison, the son of Henry, died in Bath on 8 March 1898, aged 38, and was also buried in Ecclesall. The Howson family then became dominant. Later Howson partnered Frank W. George Howson became Master Cutler in 1893. He made two world tours to promote the company’s products and his influence was shown in 1896 when the company registered a new silver mark,’GH’. He was described as’plain to the point of bluntness in speech and manner, clubbable and characteristically Sheffield’ (Derry, 1902). In the 1890s, Harrison Bros & Howson had agencies in New York, at No. 66 West Broadway, and in San Francisco, on Sutter Street. This was despite American cutlery tariffs. The company also had London showrooms at Holborn Viaduct. Yet it never seems to have advertised. The Norfolk and Shoreham Street premises became cramped and so the firm relocated in 1900 to a new building fronting Carver Street, and bounded by West and Division Streets. Above the main entrance to Harrison Bros & Howson’s Alpha Works (which can still be seen on Carver Street) was the corporate trade mark: a coronet with the word’ALPHA’, which appears to have been granted to either William Sansom or Samuel Harwood in 1836. The firm also used the’Stag’s Head’ mark of William Webster. In 1902, Charles Ibbotson, the pocket-knife maker (trade mark,’SLASH’), was acquired. By now the firm was amongst the top half dozen or so cutlery firms in the city, with a workforce of perhaps about 600 in 1911. In a review of the new premises, The Sheffield Independent, 20 October 1900, contrasted them with the’shabby, inconvenient, makeshift, sort of premises’ that were the norm in Sheffield. George Howson, too, when interviewed by local journalist Fred Callis, shortly after moving into the works, painted a rosy picture. Machinery was turning out barrow loads of blank blades and working conditions had been transformed. Half a century ago you did not see’, remarked Howson,’a cutler wearing a collar, and it was most unlikely that he had a Sunday suit’ (Cox, 1903). However, although Howson obviously had high hopes for the firm’s mechanized future, the expected profits did not materialize. He communicated to a government inquiry (House of Commons, Departmental Committee on the Truck Acts, 1908) that:’there was not only no profit, but there was a distinct loss on having built that new factory, [and] that if he had employed outworkers and built no workshops he would have been better off than with the factory’. The First World War gave Harrison Brothers & Howson little opportunity to recoup its outlay. The firm declined steadily between the wars. George Howson was still nominal head of this privately-owned company, when he died at Tapton Park on 13 December 1930. The management passed to other members of the Howson family. In the 1950s, the partners besides Colonel E. Wilkinson were Brevet-Colonel William Howson and Brigadier Harold George Howson. The latter died on 13 April 1958, aged 66, at his residence North House, Carlton-in-Lindrick, and was buried at St John’s Church, Carlton (Quality, April 1959). In the following year, the company was bought by Viners. The condition has been shown faithfully in the many photographs in my listing These IMAGES ARE the most IMPORTANT part of my item’s CONDITION DESCRIPTION So if I have failed to show anything clearly? Any questions please MESSAGE ME. Receipt will be issued on request. Track Page Views With. Auctiva’s FREE Counter. Add a map to your own listings. The item “Harrison Brothers & Howson Circa 1850’s Antique English Multi Tool POCKET KNIFE” is in sale since Saturday, February 2, 2019. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Knives, Swords & Blades\Collectible Folding Knives\Vintage Folding Knives\Factory Manufactured”. The seller is “phillip_in_new_zealand” and is located in Auckland (aprox. 12,000 “clicks” from USA). This item can be shipped worldwide.