Sheffield's Jessop Hospital for Women, which dates from 1878, is named after city magnate Thomas Jessop who footed the £30,000 building costs. Jessop's fortune came from steel; his father was a steel smelter and a partner in a steel firm. Thomas worked his way up through the family business and when his brother died in 1872, Thomas became the owner.

The Jessop works at Brightside became one of the biggest steelworks in the country and in 1875 the firm became a limited company with a share capital of £400,000. Jessops specialised in Crucible steel for cutlery, edge tools, and engineering and also gained a reputation in America, particularly for cutlery steel.

Jessop was a well known public figure and held many important civic posts including Master Cutler (1863), Mayor (1863-4), Alderman (1864), Town Trustee (1862) and JP (1863). As Mayor in 1864 Jessop had to deal with the aftermath of the great Sheffield flood. He became treasurer of a compensation fund of around £50,000. Jessop was also a member of Sheffield's first town council when the town became a corporate borough in 1843.