Does anyone remember George H. Lawrence, Ltd razor blade factory. I have some photogaphs of the workforce outside the factory. My parents,and my aunt are among those in the photograph. Would like to find out more if anyone can help.

Can you post the pics. When I was a child I would play amongst the remains of the factory after it was bombed
Siren

Hi, I would really like to see the photos too, George Lawrence was my great uncle and I'm currently looking into my family tree so it would be great to see pictures of his factory. Thanks

Can you post the pics. When I was a child I would play amongst the remains of the factory after it was bombed
Siren

We also played in that place when we were kids because we lived on the same street,Johnson St. How did you get in ,through the little round window with the grate across on Johnson Lane,we did.We also played cricket in the bombed out buildin between Lawrences and the wood yard.

Hi, I would really like to see the photos too, George Lawrence was my great uncle and I'm currently looking into my family tree so it would be great to see pictures of his factory. Thanks
Hi,

As a kid, I also spent time playing in the wreckage of the original Lawrence Works.

I also remember that when the bomb dropped on the factory, the blast blew coils of razor blade strip out of the building and draped it around the tower of Holy Trinity Church across the street.

As you know, the blitz was shortly before Christmas and the strip hanging from the tower looked like tinsel. It also looked good in the moonlight. My dad took me to see it.

The strip hung there for quite a while but being carbon steel rather that stainless, it eventually went rusty before anybody had time to take it down.

Regards

Can you post the pics. When I was a child I would play amongst the remains of the factory after it was bombed
Siren

Hello Siren ,I lived on Johnson St. where the factory was & I played in there with my brothers & sisters during the war.T.

Hello Siren ,I and my brothers & sisters played in there during & after the war because we live on Johnson St. where the factory was,T.D.

Hi, I would really like to see the photos too, George Lawrence was my great uncle and I'm currently looking into my family tree so it would be great to see pictures of his factory. Thanks

Hi,

Here are a couple of other things you might be interested in.

The wrecked part of the old works sat there for most of the war; however, the site was cleared early in 1945. I remember this because the local kids had a bonfire on the cleared site on VE day. A bonfire would have been impossible in both the wreckage of the old works or the reconstruction, which took place shortly after the site was cleared.

The other thing is a question for you. Had the Lawrence works always been there or had the front part of the building been used for something else -say early last century? Could the front section of the building (facing Nursery Street) have been used originally, as the (missing) annex to the Children's Hospital? This was a topic on the Forum last year.

Apparently, the Childrens Hospital is believed to have opened an annex in the Wicker itself, sometime in the late 19th century. Around 1912, it moved into a new building on Nursery Street; however, the annex closed in the late twenties, early thirties.

Incidentally, the Childrens Hospital have been unable to find any record of this annex. All we have to go by are the recollections of two sisters (now aged 88 & 92) who were patients of a childrens hospital, believed to be on Nursery Street.

As a child growing up in the area, you couldn't help but notice the front section of the building - even in its damaged condition. It was a far better design, and better built, than any other commercial building on the street at that time.

Just a thought

Regards

Hi,

Been to see my Nan today and she gave me all this lit on George who its turned out was like my great great great great uncle. I'm fascinated, any possible family ..... it would great to get in touch

I don't know enough about the location of this works to know if the hospital building in the 1919/20 directory below could be the same building...

White's 1911 Directory
Children's Hospital, East End Branch (Miss Cecil R. Lethem M.B., Ch.B. Edin. house surgeon), 84 & 86 Wicker.

White's 1919/20 Directory
Children's Hospital, East End (branch), Nursery st.; outpatients entrance, Johnson street.

The 1919/20 Directory has the following sequence in the street directory:

Nursery Street
(other street names are the cross streets)

76 Groom Mrs. Mary Jane, vict. Railway Inn
Johnson Lane
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL (East End Branch)
Johnson Street
HOLY TRINITY CHURCH; Rev. Frank Yates, vicar.

Sheffield Local Register (a digest of local news stories)

10 Apr 1906
Sheffield Chuildren's Hospital...At Western Bank 466 in-patients have been treated during the year, and 3522 out-patients. At the Wicker branch 6279 patiemts were treated.

Hugh

There is some more information on George Lawrence and the Laurel Works on the following site

http://www.chrishobbs.com/sheffield/georgelawrence.htm

It looks as though the post war factory is now derelict and may well be down for demolition

Does anyone remember George H. Lawrence, Ltd razor blade factory. I have some photogaphs of the workforce outside the factory. My parents,and my aunt are among those in the photograph. Would like to find out more if anyone can help.

I feel sure it was on Nursery St,just passed Johnson st on the left hand side,coming from the Manchester Hotel,I worked at the Bridgehouses Goods depot a lot of years, the building is still standing

I remember the wood yard just above Lawrence's catching fire.

My grandfather's razor:

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv12/carosio/Laurel.jpg