The Master Cutler is the head of the

Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire is a trade guild of metalworkers based in Sheffield, England. It was incorporated in 1624 by an Act of Parliament. The head is called the Master Cutler. Its motto is french: 1=Pour Y Parvenir a Bonne Foi, ...

established in 1624. Their role is to act as an ambassador of industry in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The Master Cutler is elected by the freemen of the company on the first Monday of September of each year and the position taken in the first Tuesday of October. Despite the title, the Master Cutler does not have to be involved in the

cutlery Cutlery (also referred to as silverware, flatware, or tableware), includes any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in Western culture. A person who makes or sells cutlery is called a cutler. The city of Sheffie ...

business, or even the

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

industry, to be elected. The first Master Cutler was Robert Sorsby (1577–1643). His son, Malin Sorsby, was Master Cutler in 1647, and in turn his son Robert Sorsby took the office in 1669. Another Robert Sorsby, a cousin of the first, held the post in 1628. The Installation of the new Master Cutler and Company follows the annual election of the new Company. In the early years of the Company, the Election, Installation, Church Service and celebratory meal (which eventually became the Cutlers’ Feast) all happened on the same day. Now, only the Installation and Church Service, followed by lunch, take place on the same day. The Master Cutler for 2022–2023 is Dame Julie Kenny.

List of Masters Cutler

Notable and recent Masters Cutler have included:Plaque in Cutlers' HallThe Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire
Masters Cutler *1624 Robert Sorsby *1662 James Staniforth *1790 Joseph Ward *1798 Samuel Broomhead Ward *1808

Ebenezer Rhodes Ebenezer Rhodes (1762–1839) was an English topographer, publisher, master cutler and artist. He became a prominent historian of Derbyshire. Life Born in Masborough near Rotherham, in 1762, Rhodes was educated at The Dinnington School, befor ...

*1816

Thomas Asline Ward Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

*1855

Frederick Mappin Sir Frederick Thorpe Mappin, 1st Baronet (16 May 1821 – 19 March 1910) was an English factory owner and Liberal politician. Born in Sheffield, Mappin worked for his father's cutlery company from the age of thirteen, running it alone after his ...

*1863

Thomas Jessop Thomas Jessop (31 January 1804, in Sheffield – 30 November 1887) was a steelmaker who became Mayor of Sheffield (1863-1864) and Master Cutler (1863). As Mayor, he had to deal with the Great Sheffield Flood of 1864. Family Thomas Jessop w ...

*1865–66 Sir John Brown *1867-9

Mark Firth Mark Firth (25 April 1819 – 28 November 1880) was an English industrialist and philanthropist. Biography Firth was born in Sheffield, the son of Thomas Firth (1789–1850), of Pontefract, York, and Mary Loxley. He joined the crucible steel wo ...

*1870

William Bragge William Bragge, F.S.A., F.G.S., (31 May 1823 – 6 June 1884)Stephen 1886:194 was an English civil engineer, antiquarian and author. He established a museum and art gallery, and collected a notably comprehensive library of the literature on toba ...

*1872 Thomas Vickers *1880

William Chesterman __NOTOC__ William Chesterman (22 December 1837 – 6 January 1930)Westby (2017), p. 37 was a British sportsman and industrialist. By his own confession a "weak but ardent footballer", Chesterman served as secretary of Sheffield Football Club f ...

*1899

Robert Hadfield Sir Robert Abbott Hadfield, 1st Baronet FRS (28 November 1858 in Sheffield – 30 September 1940 in Surrey) was an English metallurgist, noted for his 1882 discovery of manganese steel, one of the first steel alloys. He also invented silicon ...

*1902 Albert J. Hobson *1908 Douglas Vickers *1911

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As F ...

*1913 Thomas William Ward *1914–18 William Henry Ellis *1919

Henry Kenyon Stephenson Sir Henry Kenyon Stephenson, 1st Baronet Distinguished Service Order, DSO (16 August 1865 – 20 September 1947) was a British people, British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician and businessman. His father was Henry Stephenson (politician), H ...

*1932 Arthur Lee *1935 Samuel Roberts *1958 Hugh Neill *1974 Ken Lewis *1998 Douglas and Pamela Liversidge (Master and Mistress Cutler) *1999 H. Stuart Johnson *2000 Vernon Smith *2001 Richard Prest *2002 John Bramah *2003 Neil Turner *2004 John Tissiman *2005 Timothy Reed *2006 Alan Reid *2007 Gordon W. Bridge *2008 Martin G. Howell *2009 James Newman *2010 William Speirs *2011

Pamela Liversidge Pamela Edwards Liversidge (born 1949) was the first female president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Life She was born 23 December 1949 (née Humphries) and graduated with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Aston University.

*2012 Neil MacDonald *2013 Tony Pedder *2014 David Grey *2015 Craig McKay *2016 Richard Edwards *2017/18 Ken Cooke *2018/19 Nicholas Cragg *2019–2021 Nicholas D. O. Williams (Serving twice due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

) *2021–2022 James Andrew Tear *2022–2023 Dame Julie Kenny

The eponymous train

In 1947 at a meeting of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire Ronald Matthews, a former holder of the office and Chairman of the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

suggested that the 7.40 train from Sheffield Victoria to

London Marylebone Marylebone station ( ) is a Central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the Marylebone area of the City of Westminster. On the National Rail network it is also known as London Marylebone and is the southern te ...

, returning at 18.15, should be named after the Master Cutler. This was agreed by both the Company of Cutlers and the LNER. The ''Master Cutler'' was introduced by the LNER on 6 October 1947, running on the

Great Central Main Line The Great Central Main Line (GCML), also known as the London Extension of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR), is a former railway line in the United Kingdom. The line was opened in 1899 and built by the Great Central Railw ...

route from Sheffield Victoria to London Marylebone calling at only and . The then Master Cutler, A Balfour, later the 2nd Lord Riverdale, rode on the footplate of the inaugural train. It has since been a tradition that the Master Cutler ride with the driver of the train during their year of office. Upon nationalisation in 1948, the service became the responsibility of the Eastern Region of

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

. Known to staff simply as "The Cutler", the train carried a restaurant car and was generally hauled by a Gresley A3 Pacific.

References

Mayors, Lord Mayors and Master Cutlers

External links

Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire
Economy of Sheffield

List of Masters Cutler

The eponymous train

References

Further reading

External links