From the web:
From Roberts check-lists of Sheffield tool makers in _Some
19th Century English Woodworking Tools_:
Saw Makers-
MOULSON BROTHERS -1828-1884-
Edge Tool Makers-
MOULSON BROTHERS Division St. Union Works -1833-1900-
Joiner Tool Makers-
MOULSON BROTHERS Tudor St. -1828-
Division St. -1830-1891-
Green Lane -1892-1894-
>From Goodman, _British Planemakers from 1700_:
MOULSON (& Co.) Bros.
Tudor St. <1825-1828>
49 (63) Division St. >1833-1883>
In the text, Roberts states:
"MOULSON BROTHERS. - Thomas and William Moulson commenced as
joiner tool makers in 1828 at Tudor St. Subsequently, they were
joined by another brother, John. In 1830 they moved to Division
Street at Union Works, adding edge tools to their line in 1833.
In addition to their fine reputation as manufacturers of joiner
tools, they produced high quality plane irons, continuing in
business until 1912."
Hope this helps,
Don McConnell
Knox County, Ohio
and from another source:
According to Tweedales Directory:
Moulson had been launched by the 1820s as a maker of saws and joiners' tools and by the 1830s was based in Union Works, Division St. Thomas and John Moulson appears to have been the brothers involved, though by 1850 other members of the family were active. Although they specialised in tools, the Moulsons also traded in cutlery. Moulson Bros had an office in Pearl St, New York, by 1850. According to Goins (1998) the firm sold Bowie knives, besides other types of cutlery, using the mark 'XLNT'. (The latter mark was associated with John Wragg & Sons, qv) Moulson Bros best known partner was Thomas Moulson, who became Master Cutler in 1854. He was censured by the Company of Cutlers in his year of office for expressing the view after the Paris Exhibition (where he was a Juror) that the Sheffield trade was backward and declining.
Several Moulson partners died in the early 1860s. These included Thomas Moulson, Machon Bank, on 4 December 1862, aged 70. He was buried in Ecclesall. Joseph Moulson died 7 December 1866, aged 43. John Moulson, Stone Grove, died on 6 January 1864 aged 69, and was also buried in Ecclesall. The firm continued to trade in Division St under new Moulson managers, such as William Henry Moulson.
Another company, John Moulson, was listed in 1868 as a merchant and manufacturer of table and spring knives, and edge tools, at Globe Works, Penistone Rd. It seems likely that the owner was a descendent of one of the Moulson Bros. John Moulson-like other cutlers at Globe Works (qqv Ibbotson Bros, Walter & Unwin & Rodgers)- had cultivated the US trade. He was described as an "American Agent" with a New York Office. Henry Elliott was John's agent in Sheffield and he also worked for Moulson Bros. By 1875 that company was bankrupt, with debts of over £6.000 - a situation that was not helped when in the following year Elliott embezzled £2.000 and absconded to America (he later returned to face trial).
In the 1880s, both John Moulson and Moulson Bros were listed at the same address in Division St and Green Lane. William Henry Moulson withdrew from Moulson Bros & Co in 1880, leaving the business to his partner Thomas Griffiths. However Moulson Bros had ceased trading by the end of that decade. William Henry Moulson, Broomgrove Rd, died 7 Feb 1890 aged 64 and was buried in Ecclesall. John Moulson appears to have retired in about 1885. The New York Times 8 Feb 1901, recorded his death on the previous day at Grosvenor Hotel and commented that he:
was well known in the cutlery trade in this city. He came from Sheffield, England, in 1849, as a salesman and became later the American agent for an English cutlery house. He retired from business about fifteen years ago, and had lived since that time at the Brevoort House and layer at the Grosvenor.
see also:
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Moulson_Brothers
