This silver plate enterprise can be traced to Thomas Waterhouse, a Sheffield manufacturer, who moved to Birmingham.  After commencing business in about 1793, he was involved in a series of partnerships, which apparently began with Waterhouse & Bishop (Freemans's Journal & Daily Commercial Advertiser, 29 June 1846).  In 1803, Thomas registered silver marks at the Birmingham Assay Office as Waterhouse & Co and Waterhouse & Lightfoot (Jones, 1981¹).   The latter, which involved, Joseph Jukes Jun., was dissolved in 1806.  In about 1808, Thomas next partnered Thomas Ryland in Waterhouse & Ryland, which registered a silver mark in 1819.  Trading from Hill Street in Birmingham, this firm offered ‘Sheffield Plated Ware’ (such as candlesticks, tankards, and salvers) and became one of that city’s leading silver plate manufacturers.  Thomas Waterhouse died on 9 September 1830.  His son, George Waterhouse (c.1791-1855), began trading separately as George Waterhouse & Co (registering a silver mark in 1830).   Waterhouse & Ryland had an office in Dublin and George continued that connection.  In 1841, his son, Samuel Swinburne Waterhouse (c.1819-1905), established a Dublin shop in Dame Street.  His father closed the Birmingham workshops and transferred his manufacturing to Carver Street in Sheffield.  In 1842, he registered a silver mark in Sheffield from that address.   George Waterhouse acquired Mushroom Hall, near Sheffield, which he filled with elegant furniture, valuable paintings, and fine wines and sherry.

In 1846, Waterhouse’s attempt to retail its products in Dublin led to a dispute with Waterhouse, Hatfield & Sansom, which had a Dublin shop in Eustace Street.  They contested which firm was the ‘original’ Waterhouse.  Waterhouse & Co launched a libel action against its competitor, but lost (Sheffield Independent, 11 July 1846).   The intention was to source from Carver Street all the articles sold in Dame Street.  The explanation for the move from Birmingham was that business was expanding and that a Sheffield base would guarantee superior products at cheaper prices.  However, in 1848 George Waterhouse sold Mushroom Hall and its contents and also auctioned the dies, stamps, and old stock at 75 Carver Street (Sheffield Independent, 16 September 1848, 2 June 1849).  Apparently, George had decided to retire, though the rapid march of electro-plate may have precipitated the decision to close the Sheffield workshops, while continuing to trade in Dublin under his son.  George Waterhouse moved to Dulwich, south of London, but died on 26 September 1855, aged 64, at Gennevilliers, near Paris.  He was buried in West Norwood Cemetery, London.

Waterhouse’s Dublin shop prospered under S. S. Waterhouse.  In 1858, it purchased a large part of the stock of Howard & Hawksworth.  It became a renowned for its replica antique Celtic brooches and other gold and silver jewellery.  Queen Victoria was a customer and the firm received a passing mention in James Joyce’s, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916).  Samuel S. Waterhouse died on 5 September 1905 at his residence in Killiney, County Dublin, aged 86.

^1. Jones, Kenneth Crisp, The Silversmiths of Birmingham and Their Marks: 1750-1980 (London, 1981)