James Hawley (c.1806-1878) was born in Hasland, near Chesterfield, and by 1837 was listed as a scissors manufacturer in Smithfield.  For most of the 1840s, he was based in Edward Street, but by 1849 – when he advertised in the local directory – his works address was Pea Croft.   In the Census (1851), he was living in Pea Croft, with his wife Elizabeth and son John (c.1830-1894), who was a hardware merchant’s clerk.  By the 1860s, when the firm was styled James Hawley & Son, the business and residential address of James and his son, John, was Wharncliffe Works, Bedford Street, Penistone Road.   The Census is informative on the workforce of the business:  14 hands (1851); four men, three boys, and four women (1861); two men and two women (1871); and ten men and three boys (1881).   James Hawley, Bedford Street, died on 18 July 1878, aged 73.  He was buried in St Philip’s churchyard, Shalesmoor, leaving £1,500 to John.  The latter continued as James Hawley & Sons (probably under his brother William).  By 1888, the firm was no longer listed, though in the Census (1891) John was still described as a scissors manufacturer and sheep shear manager, living in Wharncliffe Villas, Wadsley.   He died on 18 June 1894 and was buried in Shalesmoor, leaving £1,939.