| AdminHistory | The museum building, formerly Endcliffe Methodist Church Hall, was purchased by the University of Sheffield in 1977 to house artefacts representing the social, commercial and industrial history of Sheffield collected as part of the Survey of Language and Folklore, a national survey established in Sheffield in 1964 to record the many aspects of material and non-material culture in this country. The Survey formed the basis of what would become a teaching and research centre at the University, the Centre for English Cultural Tradition and Language (later National Centre for English Cultural Tradition).
Much of the work of installing and cataloguing the displays was undertaken in the 1980s by members of a Manpower Services Commission Community Programme, and thereafter the running of the museum relied entirely on volunteers. The museum's Management Committee reported to the Traditional Heritage Committee, which represented both the museum and the Centre for English Cultural Tradition and Language (later National Centre for English Cultural Tradition) and reported to the Faculty of Arts and University Senate.
The museum's collections, some of which were removed from Sheffield workshops and factories earmarked for demolition, represented the city's light trades, including cutlery manufacture, silver-engraving and file making, as well as showing commercial and domestic interiors. Displays included a grinder's wheel, file and hornscalepressing shops, Leclere's silver engraving shop and workshop, a works office from George Wostenholm's Washington Works on Wellington Street, a clogmaker's shop, a basket maker's shop, a chemist's shop, an opticians, a corner shop and also Pollard's coffee shop, formerly on Glossop Road.
The museum closed in 2011, and its collections dispersed among a number of organisations including Manor Lodge in Sheffield, the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum near Doncaster, the South Yorkshire Transport Museum, Hope House Costume Museum, Cromford Mill and the Ruddington Framework Knitters Museum near Nottingham. The archive was donated to Sheffield City Archives by the University of Sheffield. |
| Description | The Traditional Heritage Museum's archive collection comprises a mixture of items relating to Sheffield firms and individuals; some was donated while much was salvaged from derelict workshops in the 1980s. The records largely relate to the following companies:
Henri Antoine Leclere (1833-1897), Eugene Leclere (1862-1942), silver engravers; Leclere and Bray, engravers, Norfolk Street; E. Leclere, electro plate manufacturers, London Works, 56 Howard Street, Sheffield, [19th - 20th cent] (X571/1)
George Wostenholm and Son Limited, merchants and manufacturers of spring cutlery, scissors, razors, hunting and Bowie knives etc., Washington Works, Sheffield, 1875-1980 (X571/2)
Christopher Johnson and Company (later Christopher Johnson (Cutlers) Limited), cutlery manufacturers, Western Works, Portobello Street, Sheffield, 1953-1967 (X571/3)
Roberts and Belk Limited, silverware and cutlery manufacturers, Sheffield, 1878-1967 (X571/4)
James Farrer and Sons Limited, manufacturers of grinding and polishing machines, buff wheels, polishing mops etc., Devonshire Works, 37-43 Division Street, Sheffield, 1866-1957 (X571/5)
Harry Fisher and Company Limited, steel manufacturers, Kingfisher Steelworks, Rockingham Street, Sheffield, 1889-1990 (X571/6)
The Pinking Shear Company Limited, Australia Works, Malinda Street, Sheffield, 1962-1967 (X571/7)
Champion (Scissors) Limited, later Champion (Mexborough) Limited, scissor makers, Sheffield, [20th cent] (X571/8)
Hill Brothers, horn handle manufacturers, Sheffield, 1911-1952 (X571/9)
River Don Millowners, Sheffield, 1921-1963 (X571/10)
Austin and Dodson Limited, manufacturer of steel and files, Cambria Works, Sheffield, 1886 - [20th cent] (X571/11)
Rockingham Plate Limited, cutlery and scissors manufacturers, St Mary's Road, Sheffield, 1949-1968 (X571/12)
Albert Holmes and Son (Electric) Limited, electrical contractors, 6 Meadow Head, Woodseats, Sheffield, 1922-1987 (X571/13)
George Isaac Forrest, chemist and druggist, 221-223 St Mary's Road, [1845] - 1970 (X571/14)
Edgware Cutlery Manufacturers, Humber Road, Cricklewood, London SW1, [1950s] (X571/15)
John Hardcastle, Estate Agents and Rent Collectors, 24/26 Cross Street, Woodhouse, 1935-1945 (X571/16)
Sheffield Lighter Trades Group Training Association, [1960s?] (X571/17)
National Trades Technical Societies, 1945-1966 (X571/18)
Cutlery Research Council, later The Cutlery and Allied Trades Research Association, Sheffield, 1952-1968 (X571/19)
Trustees of the Wadsley and Langset[t] and Sheffield Turnpike Road, 1838-1874 (X571/20)
Sheffield Civil Parish/Township records, 1759 (X571/21)
Sheffield Civil Aid Association (SCAA), formerly Sheffield Civil Defence Association, 1951-1985 (X571/22)
Other documents and photographs relating to Sheffield firms and individuals that were donated to The Traditional Heritage Museum, 1872 - 1971 (X571/23). |
| CustodialHistory | Most of the company archives in this collection were rescued from abandoned buildings in the 1970s by Professor John Widdowson, Director of the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition (NATCECT) at the University of Sheffield until his retirement in 2001, and former Curator of the Traditional Heritage Museum; and by Professor Paul Smith, of the Department of Folklore, Memorial University of Newfoundland (and formerly Research Associate at NATCECT). Recognising the importance of these materials in relation to the industrial heritage of the City of Sheffield, Professor Widdowson and Professor Smith arranged for the storage of these materials at the University of Sheffield and subsequently at the Traditional Heritage Museum, 605 Ecclesall Road. The collection was transferred to Sheffield City Archives by the University of Sheffield in 2012 following closure of the Traditional Heritage Museum. |