Abraham Ashton & Sons Ltd.

[woody 73]

This is by far the hardest post story I have ever done since 2009 on the GJ. So please stay with me as the dates are guesses and the information is slim at best. This is the 4th and last installment of the tools that I received from my father-in-law. I had a devil of a time with the names on the following hand saw because it just reads as follows: A.Ashton warranted cast steel Sheffield. So, I started with that information and I then found Abraham Ashton, then I found Abraham Ashton & sons, then I found Abraham Ashton burnt Tree works. That was the easy part sigh....

Just who is Abraham Ashton? That one will remain a mystery to me and what he made, and sold, before buying a saw company is another mystery, but I have a few clues at best, so this is what I know. Abraham Ashton & sons had started their company in 1848 in Sheffield, Eng and it lasted till roughly 1951/or 1954?

I think (key word here) they must have started out making a wide range of cutlery goods, before they bought out the E. Pacey & Company and the Burnt tree saw works on Meadow Street. (Date unclear maybe 1888?).

Burnt Tree was the registered owner of the shark tooth trademark which the Ashton company now owned all the rights to it. What I do know is that John Pacey started making saws around 1841 and his family made saws up to 1890 I found some information that they made saws in Burnt Tree Lane in 1852 and Burnt Tree Works first appears around the 1878. So, now Abraham Aston must have made saws after 1890? It is somewhat confusing to me; I wish I had better records to look at.

What I do know for sure is they produced Cross cut saws, frame and pit saws, circular, hand, back and pruning saws.

A few links and some pictures for you on this hot August day.

When was a sawmaker not a sawmaker?

Est in 1983 our aim is to advance the education of the general public in the history & development of hand tools & their use & the people & trades that use them

www.taths.org.uk

Abraham Ashton Sheffield | backsaw.net

Abraham Ashton Sheffield Tenon Saw Dated 1945

www.backsaw.net

Antique 19” Abraham Ashton 1881 Straight Back Cross Cut Panel Handsaw – Sharpened | Tooltique

Antique 19” Abraham Ashton (saw maker c. 1881) straight back cross cut panel handsaw with 7 tpi, fully refurbished and sharpened ready for use. The saw has been thoroughly cleaned including under the handle, jointed, resharpened and set by hand so that all the hard work of getting an old vintage...

www.tooltique.co.uk

Vintage Hand Tools

www.lumberjocks.com

Abraham Ashton and Sons - Graces Guide

Industrial Sheffield and Rotherham

www.google.com

https://www.google.com/books/editio...am+ashton+saw+co&pg=PA754&printsec=frontcover

Abraham Ashton Ltd.

Hello All, You may well get bored with me saying this but there is always something about even the most mundane saw. I got this in place of my...

www.backsaw.net

 

[RTM]

Nice collection of data Woody. My two British saw books have a grand total of 2 lines (both in the same book), and only list him / them from 1896-1911, but a lot of info has come forward since 2005. Well done, but this should go on the vintage side too.

 

[four.cycle]

love the old company logo:



great work.
you're really diggin' when you get to backsaw.net

 

[woody 73]

First time I saw that logo, I thought darn what an ugly looking tooth...

 

[esben57]

Abraham Ashton was wife's great grandfather. Good engineer, better than his business acumen.
Sold out to Spear and Jackson.

 

[smokyashton]

And

Abraham Ashton was wife's great grandfather. Good engineer, better than his business acumen.
Sold out to Spear and Jackson.

And Abraham Ashton was my Great Grandfather - so me and your wife could well be related. ABraham Ashton had, I believe 7 sons - my Grandfather Percy was one of them and I believe he was involved in Management into the early 50s. According to Sheffield Obituaries, it seems Abraham Ashton died 9th Nov 1930 whilst one of his sons, A. Ashton, Saw Maker, died 2nd Nov 1951

My father, Kenneth, son of Percy, worked there after the war but left, in 1954, to work elsewhere in Sheffield. Me as a 3-4 year old followed my father to the works ( I was born Dec 1950) on the odd Saturday morning - I remember, central to the workplace was an electric "furnace" in which the blades were put for tempering - and I remember the cutting and then the setting of the teeth and the riveting on of the handles. My father was not happy working there, he had a low regard for the "Management" which would be his father and uncles.

The take over by Spear & Jackson happened after my father had left because I remember this being discussed at some later point.

 

[esben57]

And

And Abraham Ashton was my Great Grandfather - so me and your wife could well be related. ABraham Ashton had, I believe 7 sons - my Grandfather Percy was one of them and I believe he was involved in Management into the early 50s. According to Sheffield Obituaries, it seems Abraham Ashton died 9th Nov 1930 whilst one of his sons, A. Ashton, Saw Maker, died 2nd Nov 1951

My father, Kenneth, son of Percy, worked there after the war but left, in 1954, to work elsewhere in Sheffield. Me as a 3-4 year old followed my father to the works ( I was born Dec 1950) on the odd Saturday morning - I remember, central to the workplace was an electric "furnace" in which the blades were put for tempering - and I remember the cutting and then the setting of the teeth and the riveting on of the handles. My father was not happy working there, he had a low regard for the "Management" which would be his father and uncles.

The take over by Spear & Jackson happened after my father had left because I remember this being discussed at some later point.

Percy seems familiar. Clara maybe an Ashton or married into the name.
Last one to ask passed away around 3 years ago.

 

[smokyashton]

Percy seems familiar. Clara maybe an Ashton or married into the name.
Last one to ask passed away around 3 years ago.

Thanks for the reply, if Clara is your wife, here parents were ? Steven Ashton

 

[esben57]

Thanks for the reply, if Clara is your wife, here parents were ? Steven Ashton

Clara is/was one of the ancestors. Either an Ashton or she married in.
I believe A Ashton had a home address in Ball Rd Sheffield.

 

[esben57]

Picked this up yesterday, still very sharp but blade has some staining. Will have a go at cleaning it up without losing the etching (?)marking.

 

[RTM]

Picked this up yesterday, still very sharp but blade has some staining. Will have a go at cleaning it up without losing the etching (?)marking.

I use very fine wet dry sandpaper on a hard wooden block (to avoid going into the etch). Think 320 as a starting point. If that large blob is raised, try a razor blade first.

Keep a close eye on the etch, better to avoid it than remove it while cleaning.

 

[esben57]

I use very fine wet dry sandpaper on a hard wooden block (to avoid going into the etch). Think 320 as a starting point. If that large blob is raised, try a razor blade first.

Keep a close eye on the etch, better to avoid it than remove it while cleaning.

Thanks RTM
Started by using Turtle Wax (trade mark) scratch remover which got it to the state photo'd.
The blob unfortunately has eaten in, I'm all in with avoiding the etch.
Chap I got it from says it's NOS, hardly likely although the etch marks would have been gone with use. Teeth good and sharp.
Had to buy it, £7 GBP, due to family connection.

 

[daughterofsheffield]

Abraham Ashton (junior?) was my husband’s grandfather. He had three children, Irene (Auntie Rene) Marie (my mum-in-law) and Colin who did not want to make saws, he wanted to be an actor.. Colin was the last Ashton involved in the company. He visited us in the early 70s and when he saw our collection of cars said Bob (my engineer husband) was born a generation too late as he could possibly have saved the Abraham Ashton brand…. Who knows??
The Ashton’s lived in a rambling house on upperthorpe where the family used to get together for special occasions.
Abraham used to travel widely selling the company wares, often taking the family with him.. he would march them all out of any restaurant which didn’t have Sheffield made cutlery on the tables!

 

[four.cycle]

Hello there @daughterofsheffield and welcome to the site!

We are always glad to hear from descendants and former employees of now-defunct tool manufacturers.
Thank you very much for contributing.
If I were a tool maker from Sheffield, I most likely would not sit at a table that didn't have Sheffield cutlery in the place setting, so I can hardly blame Abraham! Sounds like a man with some principles!

If I may prevail upon you, I would encourage you to also add your information to the Sheffield History site as well.