Richard Parkin was apparently born in Sheffield on 8 July 1798, the son of William (a white metal smith) and his wife, Mary.  Richard’s career in cutlery began by 1834 when he partnered his brother Thomas Parkin in Thomas & Richard Parkin, a Britannia metal enterprise, in Campo Lane.  Earlier directory entries suggest that he had been an earthenware dealer and had married Edith, a milliner and dressmaker.  The partnership with Thomas was short-lived and Richard later started his own enterprise in Campo Lane.  By 1856, the firm was styled ‘& Son’, with ‘William’ listed as a partner.  By 1859, the firm had relocated to Pond Hill and also sold electro-plated goods.  When the 1861 Census was taken, Richard and Edith Parkin were living in Glossop Road.  He told the enumerators that his firm employed twenty men, twenty women, ten girls and twelve boys – over sixty workers.  William Parkin, a brother and journeyman in the firm, also lived at the same address (he died at his residence in Fulham, London, on 21 July 1900).  Richard Parkin died on 9 January 1863, aged 59, and was buried in the General Cemetery.  He left under £5,000.  His wife, Edith, was buried in the same grave in 1875, after her death at Fernley Place, Glossop Road, on 9 May.  She was aged 74 and left under £100.  Richard Richardson became the ‘successor’ to R. Parkin.