Samuel Bocking (1817-1865) was born in Bradwell, Derbyshire.  He was apparently the son of Hugh and Martha Bocking.  In 1840, he married Sarah Dewsbury (1819-1883) and a decade later they were living in Charles Lane, Sheffield, where Samuel was a cutler.  He was listed in directories after 1852 as a table knife manufacturer in St Mary’s Road.  According to the Census (1861), he employed sixteen men.  Samuel Bocking, ‘manufacturer’, Oakendale Villa, Kenwood, died on 17 January 1865, aged 47 (Sheffield Independent, 18 January 1865).  He left under £4,000 and was buried in the General Cemetery.  Sarah died on 19 November 1883, aged 64, in St Stephen’s Road and was buried with her husband.  Their son, Maurice Bocking (1858-1929), later operated W. & S. Horrabin.