William Howe (c.1816-1877) was born in Bradwell, Derbyshire, and by 1841 was working in Sheffield as a white metal stamper.  Apparently, he launched William Howe & Co – a silver and electro-plate manufacturer – in 1851 in Corporation Street.  He partnered James Meeson (see Meeson & Green), but this was dissolved in 1859 when Meeson was bankrupt.  In the early 1860s, Howe was based in Lambert Street.  When business improved, he relocated to Gatefield Works, Woollen Street, off Infirmary Road.   In the directory (1868), he took out a full-page advertisement which showed a view of the factory.   According to the Census in 1871, when Howe’s family was living in Robert Street, his silver-plate business employed 68 men, women, and boys.  Howe’s ill-health then appears to have dogged the business and he died on 17 December 1877, aged 61.  He was buried at Wardsend Cemetery, leaving under £1,500.   

His wife, Martha, attempted to continue to trade, but she was sick herself and illiterate.  In 1881, she was bankrupt, after the business had descended into ‘hopeless insolvency’ (Sheffield Independent, 26 January 1882).   Martha died on 26 May 1882, aged 63, and was buried at Wardsend.  The firm had debts of £3,157, with two-thirds owed to William Ryland, Martha’s son-in-law.   He took over Gatefield Works as Ryland’s Electro-Plating Co.