William Willey & Sons
This branch of the Willey family has been traced to the eighteenth-century nail and file industry in Rotherham. In Sheffield, documented cutlery interests began with William Willey (c.1789-1853), who was listed as a pen and pocket knife manufacturer in South Street (1828) and in Button Lane (1833). William served an apprenticeship as a pen knife maker to Charles Roebuck and was granted his Freedom in 1831 (and the right to use the trade mark ‘WILLEY-RAILWAY’). He became an Assistant at the Compa....
