The family of scissors manufacturer Francis Oates (c.1766-1830) apparently came from Stannington, though his early history is unclear.  Possibly he was the Francis Oates, son of an innkeeper, who was apprenticed as a scissors smith to the Hinchliffe family and was granted his Freedom in 1789 (Leader, 1905-06¹).  In 1791, Francis Oates, fine scissors maker, was listed in the Universal British Dictionary.  He next partnered Joseph Hinchcliffe, but this ended in 1794.  In 1797, Francis Oates, a fine scissors smith, was working in Broad Lane (trade mark *MO).  After 1811, he was a fine scissors maker in the Wicker.   He was listed at 22 Wicker until 1825, when Francis Oates & Sons, merchants, was also listed at that address.  Francis Oates, South Street Park, died on 2 May 1830, aged 64.   He was buried in St Peter & St Paul churchyard.  His ‘relict’ – unnamed in her press obituary – died on 4 February 1837.  She had worshipped at Queen Street Congregational Chapel.  Oates’s former residence and scissors manufactory became the Station Inn.

Francis’s sons were George (c.1789-1852) and Thomas (c.1792-1871).  George was a merchant, who spent 35 years in the USA; Thomas was also an American merchant, but later worked as an iron and insurance agent in Sheffield.   The brothers were also known for their religious work (Leader, 1876¹).  George launched the Wicker Sunday School; Thomas became master of the Boys’ Lancasterian School (his wife, Charlotte, later operated a ladies’ boarding school at their house, Broom Villa, Glossop Road).  George died at his brother’s home on 16 November 1852, aged 63, from ‘disease of lungs’.  Thomas moved to London in the 1860s and died at Lochbie House, Hornsey Rise, on 21 November 1871, aged 79.   He left under £5,000.  The remains of George, Thomas, and Charlotte (who died in 1877) lie in a grave in the General Cemetery.

^1. Leader, R E, History of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire in the County of York (Sheffield, 1905-6)