Harry Brearley in Pitsmoor

Story: Elizabeth & Gordon Shaw

Harry Brearley, discoverer of stainless steel, had very strong connections to Pitsmoor. He lived in several properties in the area in his early life, he also met his wife here, who lived on Scott Road. He was born on Spital Street in 1871 and later moved with his family to Marcus Street in Pitsmoor which is now demolished.

Marcus Street lodgings

In his autobiography Harry Brearley says,

“My mother’s death caused our home to be broken up, and I found myself in lodgings, in debt to the extent of thirty pounds and earning twenty shillings a week. My brother Arthur and I lodged together and, as usual, he was keeping an eye on me.”

They moved into lodgings with “a man called Dacey, who was a Railway Guard, but had been a bandsman in the Royal Navy and afterwards a newspaper reporter.”

In the 1891 census William D Dacey, aged 26, a Railway Goods Guard, was living at, number 4, Court 1, Marcus Street. Harry writes that “Dacey had a small library of books of which I made use and he introduced me to the writings of Carlyle, Ruskin and Morris. He had visitors who cared about politics, particularly labour politics.” The writers were early socialists who supported rights for the working classes. Harry says Ruskin’s book ‘Unto the Last’, was a revelation. He had borrowed it from the library, but he liked it so much, he made a hand written copy and bound it in cloth and leather, since he could not afford to buy a copy. Bookbinding was one of many skills that he learned by watching professionals at work.

The Ruskin Collection Millennium Gallery

Ruskin, and the Guild of St George founded by Ruskin, gathered together part of this collection to put on display in a house in Walkley. The collection covered a wide range of subjects including: art, paintings, architecture, natural history and geology. It was intended to educate, inform and awake the interest of Sheffield’s working class. It is now under the care of Museums Sheffield.

Scott Road lodgings

When he was 24 years of age in 1895 Harry thought about getting married; he was earning two pounds a week. Harry writes,

“My sweetheart’s parents had lived comfortably but had already fell on evil days when I went to lodge with them. I built a Joiners bench in the garret (attic) and set about making household furniture. I was Joiner, Painter, Stainer, French- Polisher and Upholsterer.”

His sweetheart was Nellie (Ellen Theresa Crank) whom he had met at the Holy Trinity Sunday School Bible Class, off Nursery Street.

In the 1891 Census, Nellie aged 16, was living at 12 Scott Road with her family; father James Crank occupation coal merchant, mother Ann Crank and her three brothers. Her father James died in October 1908, aged 70, address 117 Scott Road, occupation gentleman. Her mother Ann died in April 1916, aged 75, address 137 Sutherland Road. They are both buried in Burngreave Cemetery.

Harry goes on to write,

“By the time I was twenty-five I was married and living in a cottage on the edge of the Derbyshire moors for which we paid a weekly rent of three shillings and sixpence (17 and a half new pence). My qualifications as a householder were quite respectable. I had made my own furniture and the pair of us had cleaned the cottage from top to bottom,”

The cottage that Harry describes as being “on the edge of the Derbyshire moors” was in Totley. Harry travelled from there to his work in Pitsmoor each day by train.

The quotes in this article are from: Harry Brearley Stainless Pioneer Autographical Notes. Published by British Steel Stainless in conjunction with Kelham Island Industrial Museum Sheffield. It was published in 1988 to mark the 75th Anniversary of Harry Brearley’s discovery of Stainless Steel.