Little mester

A little mester is a self-employed worker who rents space in a factory or works from their own workshop. They were involved in making cutlery or other smallish items such as edge tools (i.e. woodworking chisels). The term is used almost exclusively to describe the craftsmen of the Sheffield area, and is mostly archaic as this manner of manufacture peaked in the 19th century and has now virtually died out.[1] Little mesters either worked alone or employed a small number of workers and/or apprentices.[2]

Stan Shaw, referred to as one of the last little mesters, died in 2021.[3]

History

The origins of the term are uncertain.[4] Mester is the Sheffield dialect variant of master,[5] Thus a little mester refers to a master craftsman working on a small scale. Prior to the 18th century cutlery manufacture in Sheffield had been undertaken by individual master craftsmen who would make an item from start to finish. In the late 18th century there was a large increase in the size complexity of the cutlery and tool industries that made it necessary for craftsmen to focus on a single stage of the manufacture.[2] Cutlery factories then rented workshops to self-employed craftsmen, the little mesters, each specializing in one step of production, such as forging, grinding or finishing.

See also

References
  1. "What is a Little Mester?". Made In Sheffield Dot Com (via wayback machine). Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. Green, Emma; Murray, Natalie (2004). "What now for Sheffield's Little Mesters?". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  3. "Sheffield's 'last little mester' Stan Shaw dies at 94". BBC News. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  4. Harman, R.; Minnis, J. (2004). Pevsner City Guides: Sheffield. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10585-1.
  5. Addy, Sidney Oldall (1888). "Mester". A Glossary of Words Used in the Neighbourhood of Sheffield. Including a Selection of Local Names, and Some Notices of Folk-Lore, Games, and Customs. London: Trubner & Co. for the English Dialect Society. p. 148. (wikisource)
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