One tool manufacturer which appears a lot in the British vintage realm is Sorby. But which Sorby? This post will provide a bit of insight into the different Sorby’s. There are three principle tool companies with the name Sorby: “I. Sorby”, “John Sorby & Sons”, and “Robert Sorby & Sons”.
I. SORBY
“I.SORBY” was the mark used by Isaac Sorby, established in 1810, and trading under his own name until circa 1814. The company is best known as a plane-iron maker, and the irons can be found on numerous independently manufactured wooden planes. The company then became Sorby, Turner & Skidmore, until 1825 when Skidmore dropped out, and the company continued as Sorby & Turner. In 1833 Isaac Sorby died, and Turner continued the business. In 1854 John Turner died, and his son Joseph Turner continued. In 1860 he took Joseph Naylor into partnership with him, and in 1871 Northern Tool Works was bought jointly by Taylor, Naylor, and William Marples (for his youngest son Charles). In 1875 the company traded under the name Turner, Naples, and Marples. The company changed names numerous times over the coming decades, and by 1909 it was a subsidiary of Marples ( in 1893 they were bought by Turner, Naylor and Co., which was in turn bought by Marples in 1909, however Turner, Naylor and Co. continued operations until 1963).
“I.SORBY” had a number of distinct trademarks. One, “Mr Punch” was added by Joseph Turner in 1859.
The company did manufacture its own planes.
JOHN SORBY & SONS
This company existed in Sheffield and was established in 1797 by John Sorby (uncle of Robert Sorby). Its trademark was the “hanging sheep”, or Golden Fleece, registered by John Sorby in 1791. The company was engaged in the manufacture of edge tools, saws, sheep shears, and files. However they were not plane makers, but rather manufacturers of plane irons. After his retirement, the business was taken over by sons John and Henry, hence the trademark “I & H SORBY” (I and J were not separate at the time). This company was acquired in 1845 by Lockwood Brothers (cutlery manufacturers).
In 1932, the trademarks of John Sorby & Sons were bought by Turner, Naylor and Co., who continued to use the trademarks.
ROBERT SORBY & SONS
The forbearers of Robert Sorby had been cutlers in the Sheffield region, dating from the mid 17th century. Robert Sorby and Sons were registered in Sheffield in 1828 as a manufacturer of edge tools, saws, scythes and hay knives. In addition to manufacturing tools, they also diversified into the manufacture of crucible steel for tool manufacture. From circa 1860-1967, the Sorby factory in Sheffield was known as the “Kangaroo Works”. The Kangaroo Brand of tools was made by Robert Sorby & Sons. During the 19th century, they had a large trade in Australasia. By the early 20th century, they were manufacturing carving tools, planes and plane irons, circular saws, wood saws, butchers saws and cleavers, garden tools, pruning knives, coopers’ knives, bricklayers tools and joiners tools. In 1923 Robert Sorby & Sons was bought by Sheffield company Hattersley and Davidson. They are today one of the few remaining British tool manufacturers.
working by hand 
Thanks for the research. I’ve only a few of the older Sorby irons. The modern Robert Sorby is one of the few sources for pattern maker chisels. I use ’em on almost every project and would hate to be without.
ken
Mike, very interesting stuff. What I don’t get was whether or not here was a relationship between Isaac and the other Sorby families. You said John was the uncle of Robert, but was there a father/cousin/uncle/ relationship between Isaac and the others?
I couldn’t find any information relating Isaac to John or Robert… not that it doesn’t exist, but not on the internet. There are
various discussions about, but nobody seems to have a definitive link as to who Isaac Sorby was… Maybe requires some research
in a Sheffield library!
There is no Isaac Sorby. He is a fiction. Always has been. I Sorby is actually John Sorby of Attercliffe – as opposed to the John Sorby of Spital Hill.
John Sorby was born on 28 February 1780 in Attercliffe, and is the son of Samuel (1758-1815). The family was linked to SORBY, HOBSON & SORBY. John was the nephew of John Sorby of JOHN SORBY & SONS (with its ‘I. & H. SORBY’ mark).
John Sorby started business in 1810, and then formed a partnership, SORBY, TURNER & SKIDMORE, with John Turner and Henry Skidmore in around 1814. The firm first appeared in directories from 1816 onwards (though there were many changes involving different partnerships). The firm was located in the Wicker and the Goodcroft, Willey Street.
Skidmore died in 1822, aged 56, the business became SORBY & TURNER. John Sorby died on 4 December 1829 (not 1833), aged 49, and was buried in Attercliffe churchyard. The Sheffield Independent, 22 May 1830, announced the auction of a large stock of his edge tools, materials, and working tools.
John Turner continued to be listed in directories as an edge tool manufacturer in the Wicker. In January 1851, John announced that he was handing the business to his son, Charles Turner (1813-1885), and his son-in-law, William Wheelhouse (Sheffield Independent, 25 January 1851). John died on 21 March 1857, aged 79, and was buried in the General Cemetery.
Turner & Wheelhouse traded as an edge tool manufacturer in Earl Street. In 1852, it was dissolved and later Wheelhouse announced that he was disposing of his rights in the business and the ‘old-established mark, I. SORBY’ to Charles and Joseph Turner (Sheffield Independent, 18 February 1854).
Joseph (1810-1895) had been born in Eckington and was apparently John Turner’s son (or possibly his nephew). In about 1833, Joseph may have partnered edge-tool maker William Oakes: if so, that arrangement only lasted until 1834.
Charles and Joseph advertised in the Sheffield directory (1856) as ‘late Sorby & Turner’, light and heavy edge tool manufacturers, with the mark ‘I. SORBY’. The ‘I’ stands for ‘John’, not ‘Isaac’, as has commonly been supposed.
Continuing to trade off the Sorby name was logical for the Turners, especially since the ‘I. & H. SORBY’ mark of Lockwood Bros still had considerable cachet in home and export markets.
In 1858, Charles left the business. Joseph established JOSEPH TURNER & CO at Perseverance Works, Castle Hill.
In 1859, he registered the ‘PUNCH’ mark. He was joined by Thomas Goodwin and Joseph Naylor (1833-1928).
The latter had been apprenticed as an edge tool maker. He was the son of William, a steel roller, who died in 1843, aged 38. According to an inquest reported in The Sheffield Independent, 9 December 1843, William died after suffering a fractured skull in a drunken quarrel. His alleged assailant was acquitted of manslaughter.
When Goodwin left in 1868, the firm became TURNER, NAYLOR & CO. In 1871, it occupied Northern Tool Works, John Street. This was in Little Sheffield, a district not far from the town centre, where cutlery and light engineering firms congregated.
Charles Marples (1848-1901), from the well-known toolmakers William Marples & Sons, joined the firm. In 1876, it was styled TURNER, NAYLOR & MARPLES. In that year, the firm re-registered ‘PUNCH’ and ‘I. SORBY’, claiming that they had been used since 1810.
According to the Census, by the 1870s over seventy men were employed, besides a dozen or so females. In 1879, Joseph Turner retired; in 1893, Marples withdrew. The firm again became TURNER, NAYLOR & CO.
Its tools proved especially popular in Colonial markets, such as Australia. How many were produced at Northern Tool Works is unknown. Certainly some would have been made elsewhere in Sheffield and ‘bought in’ (say from Marples), or ordered from the tool makers to whom Turner, Naylor rented space in its factory.
An illustrated account of that factory appeared in a vanity publication, Sheffield and Rotherham Up-to-Date (1897).
Even allowing for the customary exaggeration, Northern Tool Works – fronting John Street and Hill Street – was one of the larger tool factories in the city. Reportedly, it had four forges, smiths’ shops fitted with hearths, two steam engines, a large boiler, and a 12-hole crucible furnace.
The factory had the usual mix of trades and outworkers – and the usual risks. On 13 October 1875, William Fletcher, aged 20, was crushed to death beneath a heavy hoist weight, after the rope had broken. John Thompson, a 22-year-old grinder, was killed on 5 April 1889, when a shattered grindstone hurled him against a wall.
In 1897, TURNER, NAYLOR & CO LTD was registered with £30,000 capital. Joseph Naylor and his three sons were the chief subscribers and directors. However, Joseph soon retired and his sons left (one became a pub landlord; another a surgeon; and one moved to London).
In 1909, the firm was acquired by William Marples & Sons. The business was experiencing difficulties. In 1912, a loss of over £10,000 was recorded and Marples reduced Turner, Naylor’s capital to £20,000.
The company traded as a subsidiary of William Marples & Sons into the interwar period.
Little is known of its management during these difficult years, but its trade catalogues still displayed a huge range of Sorby tools – everything from woodworking tools to cutlery, and gardening tools to corkscrews.
In 1932, Marples acquired the ‘I. & H. SORBY’ mark, too. After the Second World War, Mr Punch with his bag of tools marched again across Turner, Naylor advertisements in journals, such as The Ironmonger.
The firm traded under William Marples & Sons until 1963, when it was finally dissolved. The factory was demolished and modern industrial buildings now cover the site.
PLEASE NOTE: Although I started writing a short history here, I quickly ended up ‘borrowing’ a short history from Geoffrey Tweedale from an article he wrote in 2015, as it would’ve taken too long for me to write up a history from my own book on Sorby. The 1st edition of my book ‘I. Sorby Tools: Punch Brand Tools for Woodworkers’ was published in 2013 and I’m currently working on a new edition, which I hope to finish soon. I could not have done the book without Geoff’s help, and I’m indebted to Geoff for the information he was able to dig up for me.
Where do you sell your book?
It was on Amazon, and will be again when the new edition is finished. Currently it’s withdrawn from sale pending the new edition.
Many thanks for this glimpse of the past, and guide to some fo the fine steel tools still around today.
Can you say when the ‘Punch’ mark ceased to be used, by way of dating a chisel I’m looking at purchasing?
Supposedly the Mr. Punch was used from 1900-1920 according to the 3rd ed. of British Planemakers (haven’t bought the 4th ed yet).
Sorby (though owned by Marples at this stage, but running as an “independent” company) used the ‘Punch’ mark right up to 1963. Later chisels have round shanks, rather than square or rectangular ones. I think they started manufacturing the round shanked chisels from the 1940’s or so, until the end. I would have to take a look at the 1938 catalogue to be sure of that though.
As to when they first started to use the ‘Punch’ mark on their chisels it’s not as easy to determine. Probably from the 1890’s or early 1900’s I would say. Again, I would have to look at some of the old catalogues to (perhaps) have a better idea.
Did my detailed history not get processed? I can post it again if it got lost in the mix?
OK, I tried to post it again, but WordPress says it’s duplicate content – so it means it’s in the system, but has not been fully processed (approved, I guess).
In the spam folder apparently.
I have a ROBT SORBY above CAST STEEL and an IRON CROSS next!. It is a 34mm widw shallow gouge. It looks very little used. Part of the original cutting edge bevel is in tact. The handle appears original as well. I think it is a carpenters gouge rather than for wood turning as there is a 28 mm steel ferule on the end. The handle ferule is 13 mm.
Photos on request.
Thoughts?
Regards
Riccardo