Between 1861 and 1862, Albert John Beardshaw was in partnership as a silver and electro-plater with Jehoiada Rhodes (see Rhodes Bros) in Mulberry Street.  When this was dissolved, Beardshaw launched his own business in 1862 at the same address.  He advertised in the local business directory in that year.  He registered a silver mark in 1864 (‘AB & Co’) and another (‘AB’) in 1869, after he had moved to Victoria Street.  Beardshaw’s enterprise was listed as an electro-plater, gilder, and manufacturer of electro-plated wares.  He managed the business until his death, aged 57, on 5 August 1897 in Townend Street, Steel Bank.  He was buried in the General Cemetery, leaving £7,286.  He and his wife Kate (d. 1898, aged 57) had two sons: Hastings and William Albert.  They continued to operate the business and after the First World War were living in a house in Collegiate Crescent.  The staff of the company – not much more than a dozen individuals – can be seen in a photograph in Unwin & Hawley (1999)¹.   After William Albert’s death, Hastings operated the business until the late 1930s, when he retired.  He lived in Filey Street and died on 21 February 1942, aged 68.  He left £2,657.   The business was listed in Victoria Street until 1951.

^1. Unwin, J, and Hawley, K, Sheffield Industries: Cutlery, Silver and Edge Tools (Stroud, 1999)