Knees started life in 1879 when Henry John Knee (1854-1935) took over his former employer’s premises, Chapman’s, on the corner of Fore Street and Church Walk in Trowbridge. Henry’s first shop was called  Knee’s Ironmongers & Manufacturers and sold a wide selection of things for the house including paints, varnishes, mantel pieces, tile hearths, fenders, fire irons, kitchen ranges, stoves and lamps.