Walter Oborne (1722-22 May 1778) and Thomas Gunning were ironmongers, who were active in the 1750s and 1760s.  Their existence was directly related to the increase in economic activity in Sheffield, triggered by the Huntsman crucible steel process and the import of Swedish iron.  Oborne owed his rise to the Parkin family – especially Elizabeth Parkin (1703-1766), who was a Rotherham heiress and Oborne’s relative (perhaps aunt).   Oborne inherited her estate in 1766 (Wallis, 1952-57).  A distant relative from Gloucestershire – Thomas Gunning – was recruited as a junior partner.  By the 1760s, the enterprise specialised in the import and export of hardware (including knives, razors, and edge tools).   A brief history of the partnership can be found in Holderness (1973)¹.

^1. Holderness,  B A, ‘A Sheffield Commercial House in the Mid-Eighteenth Century: Messrs Oborne and Gunning around 1760’, Business History 15 (1973)