Joseph Jonas

Sir Joseph Jonas (1845-1921) founder of Jonas and Colver

1845 Jonas was born in Bingen am Rhein, Prussia, the son of Georgius Josephus Jonas and his wife Annae Maria Kappes

There is a common misconception that he was Jewish but this is incorrect. He was baptised in the R.C. Church at Bingen on the Rhine on 18 Jul 1845 and when he came to England he was married in Ecclesall parish Church, Sheffield and he is buried there.

1867 Left his home country to avoid military service.

c1870 He went to Sheffield to start a steel business. He prospered and with partners ran the Jonas and Colver, which by 1890 was one of the most successful in the area, particularly with its production of high speed steel.

1876 He became a naturalised British citizen; of Hyde House, Broomsall Park.

1876 Married Lucy Ann Earle: they had 5 sons and one daughter (after his death she married William Clegg).

1890 He became a town councillor

1901 Living at 46 Endcliffe Vale Road, Nether Hallam: Joseph Jonas (age 55 born Germany - naturalise British subject), Steel manufacturer - Employer, Justice of the Peace, German Consul. Lucy A. Jonas (age 45 born Sheffield) with their four children; Robert Jonas (age 22 born Sheffield), Metal Manufacturer; Joseph K. Jonas (age 21 born Sheffield), Metal Manufacturer; Frank Jonas (age 13 born Sheffield) and Margaretta Jonas (age 10 born Sheffield). Five servants.

1904 Appointed Lord Mayor of Sheffield, receiving a knighthood the same year. He was a Justice of the Peace and a benefactor of the University of Sheffield, particularly the Applied Sciences, and also helped establish chairs in German and French. His picture now hangs in Mappin Hall of the University, and his mansion became student accommodation, Halifax Hall.

Sir Joseph Jonas was stripped of his knighthood in 1918 after being convicted of a misdemeanour as a result of the anti-German sentiments in Britain at the time because of the First World War. (His crime had been discussions with a potential German customer in 1913, a year before the war.) In addition, his British citizenship was revoked.

Joseph Jonas died in August 1921 because of a stroke and is buried in All Saints Church, Ecclesall.

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1921 Obituary

The death, in his seventy-seventh year, of Mr. Joseph Jonas, the founder of the well-known Sheffield steel firm of Jonas and Colver, Limited, is announced as having taken place on August 25th at his home, Endcliffe House, Sheffield. Mr. Jonas was a very remarkable figure. He was born at Bingen-on-the-Rhine in 1845, served his apprenticeship with an iron firm at Cologne, was afterward employed for a short time at a Westphalian iron and steel works, and arrived in Sheffield, a stranger, in 1867, when he was twenty-one years of age. His first position was that of a commercial traveller, but within three years he had set up in business for himself. Two years later - in 1872 - he was joined by the late Mr. Robert Colver, and under this partnership the business grew rapidly, eventually absorbed the firms of Colver Brothers and W. T. Beesley and Co and in 1892 was floated as a private limited liability undertaking. Today the continental works and Novo Steel Works of the company are amongst the largest factories for the manufacture of crucible cast steel, high-speed steel and various implements.

For very many years Mr. Jonas had a seat on the Town Council, and in 1905 filled the office of Lord Mayor of Sheffield. In that year King Edward and Queen Alexandra opened the Sheffield University building on Western Bank, and it was on that occasion that Mr. Jonas received the honour of knighthood a distinction which was withdrawn during the war, in consequence of an incident which led to proceedings against Sir Joseph under the Defence of the Realm Act. Paul von Goutard, a Berlin munition maker, desired certain information about Vickers' new rifle works at Crayford, and Sir Joseph, who for many years prior to the war had had ordinary business dealings with Goutard, answered his inquiries, and was also said to have obtained certain information for Goutard a year before the war. The decision of the Court, however, was that Sir Joseph had committed a misdemeanour, but that he was guiltless of any intention whatever of offending against the safety or interests of the State. Shortly afterwards his knighthood was taken away and he ceased to be a Justice of the Peace. Throughout the affair, however, there was a good deal of sympathy locally with Mr. Jonas, and now that he has gone his sterling business qualities, his civic life and his great activities in the interests of the city of his adoption are the memories that will survive.

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Sources of Information

• [1] Wikipedia