Samuel Hurst (1829-1901) was born at Great Longstone, Derbyshire, the son of Nicholas (a shopkeeper) and his wife, Elizabeth.  Samuel had moved to Sheffield by 1851, when he was enumerated in the Census as a pen knife cutler at Infirmary Road.  In the following year, he married Miss Jane Dunn.  By 1860, Hurst was a spring knife manufacturer at Rockingham Street, where he employed one man.  He was also briefly the landlord at the Rose & Crown, Holly Street.   However, he became insolvent in 1860 and slowly began repaying his debts.  Bankruptcy proceedings mentioned that he was ‘late of Pitt Street and other places’, including Furnival Street.  In 1862, he was a spring knife manufacturer at Perseverance Mill; in 1864, his address was Queen Street.  

Hurst left Sheffield and moved to Manchester.  In 1871, he lived at Cheetham, near Manchester Cathedral, and still described himself as a cutler.  His wife, Jane, died in 1875, aged 38, and was buried at Newton Heath.  In 1876, Samuel married Jane Reilly at Newton Heath.  On the marriage certificate, he described himself as a ‘mechanic’, aged 40 (he was actually 47);  Jane was aged 20.  According to various sources, Samuel henceforth worked as a carter, landlord at the Commercial Hotel, Widnes, and master tent builder at Widnes.  His last job was touring racecourses to erect marquees.  He collapsed at Roodee Racecourse and died of heart failure, ‘following a too heavy meal’, at Duke Street, Chester, on 6 May 1901 (Liverpool Daily Post, 8 May 1901).  He was aged 71.