Does any one have any information on the Micklethwaite family in Sheffield. John (1742-1811)was a pen knife cutler who worked for a while in association with the Hounsfield family. After John's death, his two sons took over the business. Josias (1778 -) was a knife maker, and his other son Benjamin (1787-1836) was a renowned maker of blades, razors and penknives. Does any 0one know what ha0ppened to Josias after about 1822- did he move to Leipzig in Germany and carry on his trade there?

Hi Catherine,

Not much information at all on this family.

BUT I did notice this.

Yorkshire, Archbishop Of York Marriage Licences Index, 1613-1839

First name(s) Josiah
Last name Mickelthwaite
Age 29
Birth year 1778
Residence parish Sheffield
Residence county Yorkshire
Licence year 1807
Licence date 11 Oct 1807
Intended marriage place Darfield PC
Spouse's first name(s) Elizabeth
Spouse's last name Walton

Did Josiah settle in the Darfield area?

Have you looked at the Apprentices & Freemen listed over to the left?

No Mickelthwaites in Sheffield by 1841. (Taken from our 1841 census index)

Elaine in Ottawa.

Instant Messenger: Skype

I found several in 1841 using the wildcards mic*wait*

Catherine, have you seen the entry in Tweedale's Directory of Sheffield Cutlery Manufacturers? (Which begins "The Micklethwaite genealogy is difficult to unravel..." :slightly_smiling_face: )

Hugh

The Bradfield Archives online have more than 100 documents on the name Micklethwaite, including a Jonathon, cutler born 1801.
Dave

Yes, thanks, I've seen that, and made a bit of progress beyond! Nevertheless, they are quite an elusive family to trace. Many thanks for your input

Josias lived in Shefield until at least the early 1820s, as he appears in the Sheffield trade directories. After that date his name no longer appears in the trade directories and I can find no definitive entry for his death in either Sheffield or Darfield, which makes me think he might have emigrated to Leipzig whether his brother had set up a cutlery business. Josias' wife Elizabeth was a native of Darfield, and presumably that's why they married there.
I have found some Micklethwaite entries in the 1841 census for Sheffield. Josias' brother Benjamin had two sons, John & Benjamin junior who both appear in the census. John is living on Broad Lane and is described as a merchant. Curiously, his younger brother Benjamin also appears to be living with him, but is also recorded as living on Victoria St. in Sheffield where he is described as a surgeon's apprentice. Other records I have seen confirm that this Benjamin was indeed the elder Benjamin's son and that he later qualified as a doctor/surgeon.
many thanks for your input .... every little thing helps.

Thank you! I'll check this out.

You can find your chap on here:

https://micklethwaite.one-name.net/

Not much on his whereabouts post 1820, however it appears he had a son, Arthur who married in 1839, might be worth looking at getting that cert to see what is said about the father, or chasing some of the other children around.

Here is his line:

https://micklethwaite.one-name.net/micks-data/gdr-m5590.pdf#page=1&highlight=112,214,440,395

The son Arthur's life appears very interesting, he brings a libel case against a chap in London which is readable online https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/images.jsp?doc=187408170008

(change the 8 on the end to 9, 10 etc to continue reading the case)

He also re-marries in Broxbourne in 1871 (cert is on FMP surname spelt Micelthwaite) and gives father as Josiah Mickelthwaite - Merchant).

RichardS
Thank you for taking the trouble to respond at such length. I have been on the one name website, it is very useful. Josias's niece and nephew ( Children of brother Benjamin) were born in Leipzig, but return to Sheffield to marry and settle down. I will persue Arthur (!!)and see where it gets me, thank you for the links.

There was another rather bizarre court case involving Arthur in 1852.

While living in Hamburg he had commissioned an artist to make copies of a large number of well-known paintings, with the idea of taking the copies back to Sheffield and selling them. On his next trip to Sheffield he exhibited them but failed to sell a single one. He left them in the hands of a business contact with whom he also arranged for stag horns to be sent to him in Germany. They fell out, the contact demanded payment for the stag horn and then sold the paintings for a paltry sum. Arthur sued for the return of the paintings or damages.

The case (in Sheffield) included much hilarity at the quality (lack of) of the paintings.

Hugh