William Makin and Sons
Of Attercliffe Steel Works and Clifton Steel Works, Sheffield
20th Century advertising materials state that this business was established in 1736. This long pre-dates Makin’s involvement and, indeed, pre-dates the arrival in Attercliffe of Benjamin Huntsman (inventor of crucible cast steel) in 1761, so the origins of this business are obscure. The only steel refiners listed in Attercliffe in 1787 are Huntsman and Asline and Richard Swallow.
One of the references below shows Makin as successor to Benjamin Gilley. Little is known of Gilley. In 1810 a Benjamin Gilley was awarded 3 small plots of land under the Inclosure of Attercliffe Common. Land tax records for 1820 and 1823 show Benjamin Gilley as owner of property in Attercliffe with one small property rented to William Makin, but does not state whether this was residential or commercial. Gilley is listed in the 1822 Directory as a gentleman in Attercliffe, and he died in 1823, aged 83, so was born after the indicated commencement of this business.
The location of Makin’s Attercliffe works is known on maps from 1851; it was immediately adjacent to the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal, and the aqueduct over Darnell Road. This canal was opened 1819 and, given its location, it seems very unlikely that Makin’s works pre-dated the canal, so whatever preceded it is likely to have been elsewhere in Attercliffe.
William Makin was born in about 1796, the son of John Makin, a saw maker, and his wife Elizabeth.
1822 – William Makin – steel refiner and converter. Manufacturer of roller plates, rope axes, chisels, tobacco knives, &c., Attercliffe.[1]
1825 – William Makin (successor to Benjamin Gilley). Manufacturer of roller bars, bottom plates, rope axes, wrought iron spindles, chisels, &c. &c. for Paper Mills, tobacco knives, mill chisels, steel, &c. Attercliffe.[2]
1828 – William Makin - steel refiner and converter. Manufacturer of roller bars, bottom plates, wrought iron spindles, rope axes and chisels, for paper makers and corn millers, tobacco knives, &c. Attercliffe. [3]
1841 – William Makin – manufacturer, blister, bar and shear steel, engraver of cast steel plates, paper mill engine roller, brass and platers files, cast steel mill chisels, table and tobacco knives. Attercliffe Steel Works. [4]
1849 – William Makin – Roller plates, scythe, &c. manufacturer. Attercliffe. [5]
1851 - Census lists William Makin, steel manufacturer and merchant, resident in Doctor Lane, so presumably in Clifton House (first mentioned by name in newspapers in 1854). Also his son Edwin Makin (18), steel mfr(?). The 1851 OS map (attached) shows Attercliffe Steel Works located on the east side of Darnall Road, adjacent to the aqueduct where the Sheffield Canal crosses. Clifton House on Doctor Lane is also shown.
1852 – William Makin – Steel converter and roller, and mill chisel, machine knife, scythe, &c. manufacturer, Attercliffe. [6]
1854 – 1st mention of William Makin at Clifton Steel Works, Hillfoot Bridge. [7] Maps (attached)show this works just north of Hillfoot Bridge over the River Don, near Neepsend. At least a part of the site (perhaps all) was formerly known as Sandbed Wheel and Tilt Forge. It had been offered for sale in 1850, but there is no indication that Makin bought it then. The names Sandbed Tilt, Sandbed Wheel and Clifton Works were used fairly interchangeably over the years.
1856 – William Makin – Steel converters and rollers, mill chisel, machine knife, scythe, &c. manufacturers. Clifton Steel Works, Hillfoot, and Attercliffe. [8]
1857 – William Makin and Son – Steel converters and rollers, mill chisel, machine knife, scythe, &c. manufacturers. Clifton Steelworks, Hillfoot, and Attercliffe. [9] Partners were William Makin, his son Edwin John Makin and his new son-in-law James Marchinton (lately of [Marchinton Brothers]).
1861 - Patent 3186 of 1861 “To William Makin, of Attercliffe, in the parish of Sheffield, in the county of York, Steel Manufacturer, for the invention of improvements in apparatus for the manufacture of cast steel mill chisels, and other taper tools and files.” [10] [11]
1862 - William Makin and Son – Steel converters, refiners and rollers, and manufacturers of files, scythes, mill chisel, machine knife, &c. Clifton Steelworks, Hillfoot, and Darnall Road, Attercliffe. [12]
1863 - Supplied experimental conical steel shot for tests by the Ordnance Committee at Shoeburyness.[13]
1863 – William Makin retired from the partnership on 23 Nov 1863, leaving Edwin John Makin and James Marchinton to continue the firm. [14] As indicated below, soon afterwards, Edwin’s brother Benjamin Makin was admitted a partner.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Baines Directory of the West Riding
- ↑ Gell’s Directory of Sheffield - 1825
- ↑ Pigot’s Directory 1828
- ↑ Rogers’ Directory of Sheffield 1841
- ↑ White’s Directory of Sheffield 1849
- ↑ White’s Directory of Sheffield 1852
- ↑ Sheffield Independent - 1 Apr 1854
- ↑ White’s Directory of Sheffield 1856
- ↑ White’s Directory of Sheffield 1857
- ↑ The London Gazette – 10 Jan 1862
- ↑ English Patents of Inventions, Specifications, 1861, 3153 – 3214
- ↑ White’s Directory of Sheffield 1862
- ↑ Sheffield Daily Telegraph - 31 Mar 1863
- ↑ The London Gazette – 1 Dec 1863