William Beet was apparently born in 1820, the son of John (a cutler), and his wife, Elizabeth.  William became a horn, buck, and stag horn manufacturer and scale cutter.  He partnered George Whitaker in Whitaker & Beet, Rockingham Street.  By 1860, Beet was trading alone in Rockingham Street.  William and his wife Amelia (1818-1897) had three sons – William (1854-1917), John Henry (1857-1937), and George (1863-1929) – who eventually joined the business.  In the late nineteenth century, it was based at Ceylon Horn Works, Thomas Street.  William Beet Sen., Bowden Place, died on 3 September 1895, leaving £2,029.  He was buried in the family grave in Ecclesall churchyard.  His sons lived in Hanover Square and continued to trade as horn merchants.  The eldest, William, died on 2 March 1917, leaving £10,106.  Apparently, William Beet & Sons ceased trading in about 1920.   George Beet, Ambergate, Banner Cross Road, died on 11 March 1929, leaving £11,713.  John Henry Beet, Hanover Square, died on 25 May 1937, leaving an estate of £16,789.