Our History

Taylor & Howarth was established as an edge tool manufacturer in 1834 as a partnership between Henry Taylor & James Howarth. The business became Henry Taylor as Howarth left in 1842 to set up his own tool manufacturing company.

A prize medal was awarded by the jurors of the Great Exhibition of 1851 to Henry Taylor, for the superior quality of the articles manufactured by him. Medals were also awarded at The Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1855 and at the 1862 International Exhibition in London.

The company moved from the original factory on Fitzwilliam Street to the Acorn Works at Arundel Street in 1892, where it stayed for the next 50 years. Henry Taylor became a limited company in 1898.

Henry Taylor Ltd was incorporated into Aaron Hildick in 1948, a well-known family run edge tool manufacturer that had spanned 4 generations.

T. Cooper Tools (the company that originally created Hamlet tools) established itself as an edge tool company. Their premises were initially based at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, before moving to new premises on Beulah Road in the north of Sheffield 2 years later.

The Hamlet Craft Tools brand was created by T. Cooper Tools. Developing on their previous tool ranges, and changing the handles from a gloss to a matt finish, the name on the tools changed to ‘Hamlet’ as a reminder of the companys previous home at the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet.

Hamlet Craft Tools was purchased by Henry Taylor (Tools) Ltd in 2006, joining both the Diamic and Acorn brands in the current premises on Livesey Street, Sheffield.

Paul Wragg, the current managing director, bought Henry Taylor in 2017 and has worked hard to return the business to its traditional values of service and quality; with two family generations bringing skills and expertise to the company’s ongoing development.