The Cutlers

History

When the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1624, the local cutlery industry was already over three centuries old. In 1297, a man called Robert the cutler appears in a tax return, the earliest surviving evidence for the local cutlery trades. 

The ancient administrative unit called 'Hallamshire' is centred on the mediaeval parish of Sheffield, with the adjoining parishes of Ecclesfield and Handsworth. Hallamshire was the southernmost shire of Anglo-Saxon Northumbria and its boundary separated Northumbria from Mercia.

Surviving 16th century records show that the powerful Earls of Shrewsbury, who were the Lords of the Manor of Hallam, had taken an active interest in the local trade, but on the death of Gilbert, Earl of Shrewsbury in 1616, the manor passed to non-resident lords.

The cutlers of Sheffield were left without any guiding control over their affairs and so petitioned Parliament for an Act of Incorporation in 1624. The Cutlers' Company of Hallamshire took over the responsibility for binding apprentices, admitting Freemen, registering marks and devised regulations to ensure the quality of workmanship.