This merchant was operating by 1811 in Eyre Street under Samuel Parkinson and James Drabble.  After 1815, it traded in hardware goods with American merchants in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York (where by the 1820s its agent was Robert Thompson).  James Barton, Eyre Street, was also involved in the firm, which was dissolved in 1824.  In that year, James Drabble & Co (featuring Drabble and James Barton) was also dissolved.  Samuel Parkinson died at Sharrow Grange on 15 January 1837, aged 82, a merchant ‘long respected for his inflexible integrity and moral worth’ (Sheffield Independent, 21 January 1837).  He was buried in Ecclesall.  

Drabble continued in Eyre Street until 1831, when he offered his warehouses and premises for sale as a ‘most desirable Establishment for anyone embarking in the Foreign Trade’ (Sheffield Independent, 30 April 1831).  He then became the first manager of the Sheffield Banking Co (Leader, 1916¹).  He resigned due to ill-health in 1840 and died on 3 September in the following year (aged 59) at his residence in Highfield.  He was buried in St Paul’s churchyard.

^1. Leader, R E, The Sheffield Banking Company Limited: An Historical Sketch (Sheffield, 1916)