Henry Hobson (1823-1897) was born in Sheffield, the son of Edward Hobson and his wife, Hannah.  In 1842, Henry married Ann, the only daughter of John Pearce, a cutlery dealer and razor manufacturer in Angel Street.  Hobson became Pearce’s manager, but in 1845 launched his own cutlery dealership with his younger brother John B. Hobson.  They were listed in 1852 as Hobson Brothers (John and Henry, and later Frederick Jun.) in Bank Buildings, Bank Street, in the town centre.

Hobson Bros opened a London branch, with Henry living in Houndsditch with his wife, Ann.  However, in 1852 Henry and John dissolved Hobson Bros, and henceforth Henry operated alone.  In 1861, he was living with his family (and three servants) at Hallamshire House in Highbury Hill, London.  He was a ‘wholesale cutler’ in Queen Street/Bank Street in Sheffield (and London), but until about 1868 operated as ‘John Pearce & Co’ (though his father-in-law had died in 1860).  By 1876, Henry was trading as Henry Hobson & Son in Queen Street, Sheffield, and Houndsditch, London.  The ‘Son’ was Henry Hobson Jun. (1848-1890).  Henry Hobson Sen. continued to live in Highbury Hill, where his wife Ann died in 1869, aged 46.  A year later, Hobson married at Holloway Congregational Church, Kezia, the daughter of the Reverend Alex Stewart.  In 1883, his son, Henry, took over the business.  However, he died of typhoid fever at Llanfoist, Crescent Road, Crouch End, Hornsey, on 24 September 1890, aged 43.  He was interred at Abney Park Cemetery, leaving £9,205.

Henry Hobson Sen. had retired to Lyndhurst, Rutland Park, Sheffield.  One  daughter, Martha, had married R. F. Mosley; another, Emily, was the wife of Ernest Maxfield.  The firm continued under George Frederick Hobson (1865-1918) – another son from Henry’s first marriage – and later under Henry Stanley Hobson (1874-1948), who was the son of Henry Hobson Jun. G. F. Hobson’s son, George Colin Hobson (1889-1963),  later joined the firm.  In the early 1890s, Henry Hobson & Sons sold cutlery and plate, beside a huge range of china and glass, clocks and barometers, cigar and cigarette and stationery cabinets, hand tools, umbrellas, and guns.  The firm registered silver marks at the Sheffield Assay Office in 1892 and 1894 (and in London), listing its address as Houndsditch, London.

Henry Hobson Sen. died at Ilkley, Yorkshire, on 29 July 1897, aged 74.  He left £41,875.  In his will, he expressed a wish to be buried in Highgate Cemetery, London (de Lange, 2013).  Afterwards, the firm occupied, in turn, premises in West Street, Carver Street, and Eyre Lane.  Hobson’s used the trade mark ‘EXPRESS’ (possibly acquired from George Siddall) and dubbed its office Express Works.  It also used the ‘JP’ mark of John Pearce.  George F. Hobson died at Hassendean, Tulse Hill, Surrey, on 31 January 1918, aged 53.  He left £35,161 to his son, George Colin, who continued the firm with H. Stanley Hobson.  After 1918, Hobson’s moved to Arundel Street, but apparently ceased running a Sheffield office in about 1930.  Henry Hobson & Sons continued to trade in Ely Place, London, until 1936, when Stanley and Colin dissolved their partnership.  The former still owned the firm.  He died at Dee Cottage, Northfields, Ashtead, Surrey, on 19 March 1948, leaving £2,181.  George Colin emigrated to Australia.  The mark was listed in Whitham & Sykes (1953)¹ under Henry Hobson & Sons Ltd, Amber Works, Hanley Street.  John Clarke also used an ‘EXPRESS’ mark on its razors.

^1. Whitham, J H, and Sykes, A, (eds) Register of Trade Marks of the Cutlers’ Company of Sheffield (London, 1953)