Wilsons of Sharrow, now named Wilsons & Company (Sharrow) Ltd, based in the Sharrow district of Sheffield, United Kingdom, is the world’s oldest manufacturer of snuff. The company was founded 1737. Wilsons also manufactures the renowned Fribourg & Treyer snuffs.
In the early 1740s, Joseph Wilson succeeded his father Thomas Wilson, a shearsmith, as tenant of Sharrow Mill (then a cutlers wheel) . The mill suffered a fire in 1746, when his stock in trade included 'tobacco stuff'. However the snuff mill was apparently not built until 1763.
In 1833, Joseph and Henry Wilson parted company with their cousins William and George (who retained Sharrow Mills), setting up a rival business at Westbrook Mill. That remained a family business incorporated as Joseph and Henry Wilson Ltd in 1895. It remained in family ownership until 1953, when its elderly proprietors sold the business to Imperial Tobacco. Its archives are now deposited in Sheffield Archives.
At Sharrow Mills steam power was introduced in 1797, but the water wheel remains operational. The company is currently still owned by the Wilson family, the sixth generation since Thomas, still based at Sharrow Mills, in Sheffield.