Benjamin Shepherd was apparently part of Sauer, Eyre & Shepherd, a merchant listed at Norfolk Street in 1797.  By 1811, Eyre & Shepherd was active at that address.  Five years later, Benjamin alone was listed as a merchant in Norfolk Street (though by 1822 he was in Eyre Street).  Few details of his career have survived.   He died at St Petersburg in September 1823 (his death was reported in The Sheffield Independent on 22 November ).  

Shepherd’s Eyre Street property was offered for sale:  it had a dwelling house, pleasure garden, with adjoining offices, and a large ‘commodious’ warehouse.  It had an outlet in Norfolk Lane and covered about 721 square yards.   The brief prospectus described Shepherd as a Russian merchant (Sheffield Independent, 29 November 1823).  His auctioned stock included table knives and forks, scissors, razors, and various edge tools.  According to The Sheffield Independent, 29 November 1823, Shepherd had been marketing cutlery made by some of the leading makers:  Patten, Bateman, Warburton, and Dodworth.