Silverware
One of the most popular stories in the 19th and 20th centuries was the story of a poor man who stole the Bishop’s silver candlesticks to sell in order to feed his family, and who when caught was forgiven by the Bishop. You may not remember the book by Victor Hugo, but you certainly remember the magnificent music from this story, “Les Miserables”. I came to know that story through its inclusion in our Primary School Reader.
That story possibly influenced us, as a married couple, to believe our dinner guests should be treated well to a formal meal. That meant three or four courses, a beautifully set table, cloth napkins, flowers, fine crystal or glass ware, all the silverware, candles at night in the silver candelabra, our best fine bone china, and a proper presentation of the meal and conversation. We have a fine dining room table so most of our dinners have twelve present, except for the family gathering, when all is exactly as above, except there are twenty-two of us on two tables.
Every one of our children grew up being taken out to good restaurants for their birthdays so they learnt how to dine in a proper atmosphere, and knew what to do, and how to behave. On many occasions our guests have included Governors and Governors General and their spouses, and on a dozen occasions the Prime Minister. Our children knew exactly how to behave and to join in the conversation. Now with their spouses and children, we still do exactly the same.
In 1983, I wanted to purchase a good quality silver canteen of cutlery but everywhere I looked at was far too expensive, well beyond our means. Just after Easter 1983, I went as usual to my weekly Rotary Club luncheon at the Menzies. In the street, I found a man looking for street signs. I asked if I could help direct him. He replied that he was looking for the Menzies Hotel to attend the Rotary Club! I told him I would show him and asked him to be my guest. I was a Director of the Club and past President, so I willingly paid for his lunch.
We sat down and chatted. His name was John Hambridge from Sheffield, England. I told him I would be in Sheffield in exactly two weeks! I saw him closely examining the table silverware. He asked me why I was coming to Sheffield and I replied to see if I could buy a canteen of silver cutlery. I asked, what was his profession, or vocation as Rotarians refer to it. He was the Chief Executive of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, in charge of all the silver smiths and cutlers! History records a goldsmith was working in Sheffield in the 16th century enriching the hilts of knives, which had been produced in the town at least from the 13th century.
The Sheffield silver trade, however, does not look to these early goldsmiths for its origins. The trade was established in the town as a direct result of the invention of Sheffield Plate in 1742. From the initial discovery by Thomas Boulsover, the art of silver plating advanced to the point where almost anything which could be made from silver could also be made from silver plate. Boulsover applied it in the manufacture of buttons and buckles at a time when everyone wore them and in 1773 it was said that the buckle trade provided work for 5,000 men and women in Birmingham, Sheffield, and nearby.
When we arrived, John Hambridge sent us to Walker and Hall silversmiths. George Walker established the firm in Sheffield in 1843. Henry Hall joined the partnership in 1848 and the company was known as Walker & Hall in 1853. I was met by Mr. Trickett (a grandson of the founder, Walter Trickett, Cutler to Queen Victoria) and a Mr. Spiers. They would be delighted to sell me a canteen, but first we must tour their factory.
The old factory was straight from Charles Dickens. Men carried huge bags of sand up the steepest stairs to be used in polishing the silver. The black sand came from the nearby river, which in the 1880’s flooded, damaging factories and shops and drowning dozens of workers and residents. I spoke to quite a number of the men, and to a dozen elderly women who were using the sand and rags to polish the silver. They all seemed to have worked for the same firm for over thirty or forty years and more. Some had been there since World War Two. Every one was happy with their work and their firm. They really enjoyed their jobs. The firm was very much a family, and they were all committed to the task of producing the world’s finest silverware. The famous trademark of the flag was first registered in 1861. The hallmark is a triangular flag with ‘W & H’ in it.
They were then making swords for new officers in the Army, for some people who would be made knights by the Queen, and loads of magnificent silverware. Mr. Trickett was very busy. He was the President of the Cutlers’ Society and was in charge of the Cutlers’ Ball in four days time to be attended by Queen Elizabeth II, and they were making a full set of cutlery for 800 diners!
But he could organize a canteen. I was worried about the price, but he said, “Forget the price. What would you like? A full setting will cost at manufacturer’s price so much…” That was less than what we could afford! That meant I could get two full settings! The beautiful wooden canteen table would be sent to us by air, but we decided to carry the silverware home with us. It was so heavy! It weighed over the total amount of weight for two of us in cabin baggage, but we were not going to put it in the hold. With that much silver, we declared it to customs, which believed us when we said it was for our personal use and just waved us though!
That silverware has been through dinner parties hundreds of times and the dishwasher afterwards, and is as good as the day it was purchased. Mr. Trickett had told us to use it as everyday cutlery and just put it in the dishwasher. It would not scratch with use, and to demonstrate, took a new spoon and rubbed it hard upon the floor then wiped it with a polishing rag and it was like new. We got Dubarry style, the style to be used by the Queen that week at the Cutlers’ Ball.
Walker and Hall had seen great improvements made in the silver line, particularly in the manufacture of candlesticks, salts and peppers, bottle stands, caster frames, photograph frames, Christening mugs, and snuffer trays, and the like. An early historian decried the extent of the Sheffield manufactory, stating they produced “slight silver candlesticks, knife handles, bottle stands and salts which are struck with fly presses”. He conceded that there were other lines; breadbaskets, inkstands, punch ladles and candle snuffers, and the like. The stock in the warehouse shows that from the earliest days the firm was manufacturing all types of wares. It included: candlesticks; tea and coffee urns; tea, coffee and mustard pots; caddies; waiters; dish rings and dish crosses with lamps; sauce, pickle, soy, candle snuffer and ink boats; tureens; epergnes; ice pails; toast trays; salts; fish knives; table, dessert and tea spoons; paddy shells; muffineers and cruets. From this list of products it is clear that the trade in Sheffield was well established.
Depending on their markets, the Sheffield firms required travelers, a London agent or a London showroom. The journeys were regular tours through different parts of the country during the course of which, as well as selling, outstanding debts had to be collected. The weight of the products would preclude the travelers from carrying samples and the goods were sold from a ‘catalogue’, a volume of fine prints to actual size, annotated with prices.
A few years after I had been to Walker and Hall in Sheffield, they came to Sydney and opened a show room just down the road from Wesley Mission in the CBD. Over the next few years, each birthday I would buy other pieces, like a soup ladle, cake forks, cake servers, carving set, with the result that over the past thirty years we now have an extensive collection of Walker and Hall, with 100% satisfaction. So at our house dinner guests are treated well to a formal meal, prepared by Beverley who is a magnificent cook. A well-prepared meal demands a beautifully set table, and for that we thank the silverware.
Rev The Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes, A.C., M.L.C.
