On the evening of 20 February 1889, John Hobson (1815-1889) – Sheffield’s foremost scissors manufacturer – visited nearby Thornbury, the mansion of Frederick T. Mappin.   Hobson returned to his home, Tapton Elms, at about 11 o’clock and then retired to bed.  His wife noticed that his breathing was laboured and he died soon after from ‘cardiac apoplexy’ (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 21 February 1889; Sheffield Independent, 21 February 1889).  He was aged 73.  The Hobsons came from Bradfield.  Joseph Hobson (c.1772-1847) started the business.  He had married Betty Hinchsliffe, whose father, Robert, had pioneered cast steel scissors.  In 1816, Hinchsliffe & Hobson was listed in Cheney Square.  Joseph succeeded to the business, which appeared in a Sheffield directory (1822) as Joseph Hobson, scissors manufacturer, Hobson’s Court, New Church Street.  His son, John, was born in Sheffield on 29 September 1815 and baptised at St Peter’s parish church.  His father took him into partnership and the business was styled Joseph Hobson & Son, 71 Arundel Street.  In February 1847, Joseph retired.  His workers gave him a silver inkstand to commemorate his retirement.  He died, aged 75, on 14 September 1847 at Western Bank at the residence of his son-in-law Charles Fisher (see William Fisher & Sons).   He was a Nonconformist.  The Sheffield Independent, 18 September 1847, described him as ‘a man of great simplicity and manners, and of strict integrity of character; one who throughout a long life … walked humbly with God’.

For over forty years, John Hobson directed the family business, which manufactured fine scissors and tailors’ shears in Arundel Street.  It  prospered, with Joseph Foster as manager, while John was on the road.   The factory processes were described in The Art-Journal (October 1850), which stated that the firm held patterns of over 5,000 scissors designs.  In 1851, the firm employed 75 men and 26 women.  The 1871 Census enumerated John at the Adelphi Hotel, London, when he employed 120 workers (a quarter of them women).   His house, Tapton Elms at Tapton Ville, had been bought in the 1850s and commanded fine views of the town and countryside.  He was a prominent Unitarian and trustee and treasurer of Upper Chapel.   He served on various public bodies and was a member of the Town Council for ten years, serving as Alderman.  Like his father, however, he declined to serve as Master Cutler.  He retired in 1882.  Two columns of The Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 25 February 1889, described his funeral and burial in the unconsecrated section of the General Cemetery.  His will was proved at under £120,000.  

The business passed to one of his sons, Albert John Hobson (1861-1923), who was born in Sheffield on 28 July 1861.  He took control of the business, aged 21, even though he was crippled as a result of a childhood accident or deformity, which meant he could only walk with two stout sticks.  When Albert took over, the firm employed 60 workers.  On his father’s death, he sold the business to Joseph Rodgers – which Hobson’s had supplied with scissors.   Albert joined their board, and also became a director of the steelmakers, Jessop’s.  In 1893, with his brother Wilfred Hobson (1863-1942), Albert Hobson bought Thomas Turner & Co.