Joseph Samuel Eales (bapt.1820-1883) was born at Leeds, the son of Joseph and Jane. In 1841, the Eales (father and son) were working as linen weavers. Joseph Samuel married Mary née Denton at Leeds parish church in 1846, when his occupation was weaver. Frustratingly, the family is elusive in the Census of 1851, but Joseph Samuel and Mary remained in Leeds for most of the 1850s. Two daughters, Sarah and Caroline, were born at Leeds in 1854 and 1857, respectively. In the late 1850s, Joseph Samuel and Mary settled in Sheffield, where they had their first son, John Inkermann Eales (1859-1897). ‘Inkermann’ was a reference to a Crimean battle in 1854. It was briefly in vogue as a middle name (or place name) to celebrate the victory and did not necessarily denote any direct military connection.

In 1861, Joseph S. Eales was living at Wright’s Hill, off the London Road. His occupation in the Census was ‘warehouse man iron’ – a job he continued until his death on 7 March 1883, when he was 64. He was buried at the General Cemetery.  By 1881, John Inkerman and another of Joseph Samuel’s sons, Samuel (1863-1882), were Britannia metal buffers. John Inkerman Eales had two sons – Samuel Inkerman Eales (1885-1973) and Robert Victor Eales (1887-1939) – who became, respectively, an electro-plate spoon and fork finisher and a table knife blade buffer. John Inkerman Eales, silver buffer, of 70 Rufford Road, Heeley, died on 10 February 1897 (aged 37) and was buried at Norton Cemetery.

Samuel and Robert continued as buffers in the city centre backstreets. The work would have been grimy, arduous, and poorly paid. Not until 1922 did the Eales’ family feature in a Sheffield directory. In 1925, Robert Victor was listed as a silver buffer (probably trading independently) at Chester Lane. He and his wife, Nellie, had a large family (14 children in seventeen years). Their son, Samuel Inkerman Eales (1911-1982), was introduced to the trade. In 1939, Robert Victor was working as a table knife buffer and living at Doe Royd Crescent., Parson Cross. Late one Saturday evening, he was knocked down by a motorcycle in Halifax Road and died almost immediately (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 13 November 1939). At City Road Cemetery, his black tombstone is inscribed ‘Killed 11th Nov. 1939, aged 52’.

In 1948, S. Eales & Son (a cutlery, spoon, and fork manufacturer) was listed at St Thomas’ Street. In the 1950s, the firm – presumably directed by Samuel Inkerman Eales (the descendant of Robert Victor) and his son, Samuel Inkerman Eales (1935-1997) – relocated to premises at Shalesmoor, near Kelham Island. S. Eales & Son Ltd traded at Shalesmoor until 1976, when it was struck off the Register of Companies. Perhaps Samuel I. Eales had retired. He lived at Albert Road, Heeley, and died on 3 February 1982, leaving £60,465.

By the start of the 1980s, the Eales’ firm had been reconstituted and had a warehouse and office on an industrial estate at Douglas Road, Neepsend. In 1988, the firm took over Housley International, which was an offshoot of H. Housley & Co and a supplier of stainless cutlery for mail order and retail chains. However, in 1991 S. Eales & Son Ltd was declared insolvent by one of its directors, John A. Woolhouse. But in the same year, Samuel Eales Silverware Ltd (trading under the name Inkerman Silver and using a cannon mark) was incorporated. Thirty years later it continued to market stainless cutlery and EPNS at Douglas Road under descendants Thomas and Ritchie Eales.