This business operated from Cambridge Works in Edward Street.  In 1837 Alfred Hobson – who was born in Stannington – was listed as a pen and pocket knife cutler in Allen Street, then in 1841 in Workhouse Croft.  By the mid-1840s, Alfred Hobson was listed as a merchant and cutlery manufacturer in Edward Street, with a house in Glossop Road.   In 1856, a trade advertisement described Hobson as ‘Manufacturers of Fine American Cutlery, Dirks’, using the trademark ‘CURRENT’.   By now Alfred had brought his sons into the business, with Hobson himself living in Crookes Road, Mount Pisgah.  Alfred Hobson & Sons can be tracked in directories in Edward Street from the 1860s to the 1880s, with Alfred Hobson residing at various addresses in the Crookes/Broomhill area.  His firm was described as a maker of ‘American Pen and Pocket Cutlery’, employing over a dozen workers in the 1860s.  Alfred Hobson, ‘manufacturer’ of Whitham Road, died (aged 75) on 11 January 1887.   He was buried in the General Cemetery, leaving £123.  That year was the last occasion the firm was listed.   ‘CURRENT’ was acquired by Albert Oates.