The Horton family was from Birmingham. William (a button maker) and his wife, Deborah née Hands, had at least three sons:  James (1785-1858), William (1796-1840), and Alfred (1800-1843). The last two sons were baptised at Queen Street (Congregational) Chapel in Sheffield.  The directory of 1816 listed Horton & Co as gilt and plated button manufacturers at Rockingham Street. In the early 1820s, the address was sometimes given as Carver Street. In the directories of 1825 and 1828, W. & J. Horton appeared in Rockingham Street as a button maker.  The firm also offered table knives and razors (presumably factored) and stated that it was a general dealer in all kinds of cutlery.  One partner was Jonathan Helliwell, of Jail Street, who died on 15 June 1825. He was one of the elders of the Baptist Church (Sheffield Independent, 18 June 1825).  Other partners were listed in 1830, when Horton’s was dissolved. These included William, James, and Alfred Horton; Helliwell’s widow, Elizabeth: John Barker; and George Turton.

William Horton Sen. must have retired. He may have died in 1838: a William Horton was buried at Ecclesall on 30 March 1838, aged 74. In the same graveyard, Deborah Horton was buried on 30 December 1853 (aged 90).  William Horton Jun. and Alfred Horton had agreed to continue the button business at Rockingham Street. But they filed for bankruptcy in 1834. In the following year, the stock-in-trade and tools were auctioned (Sheffield Independent, 15 August 1835). On 5 May 1840, William Horton Jun. hung himself with his silk handkerchief in the back room of his home. He was buried in the General Cemetery. The register noted his occupation as ‘operative silversmith’. The inquest returned a verdict of temporary insanity. Horton was a heavy drinker and suffered from delirium tremens  (Sheffield Independent, 9 May 1840 ). Alfred, a commercial traveller, died at Newcastle-on-Tyne on 26 December 1843.  James Horton became an agent and commercial traveller for a paper-making enterprise. He died at Ebenezer Square, Sheffield, on 7 January 1858. He was buried at Ecclesall.