In 1846, this firm began as Padley, Parkin & Co, manufacturers of electro-plated wares.  It registered a silver mark from Watson’s Walk.  It had a London office at 2 Salisbury Street.  The partners were William Padley (1817-1890), who was the son of Samuel Padley, a Quaker silversmith, and his wife, Mary Anne; and George Parkin (c.1798-1857).   Benjamin Staniforth (c.1807-1874) and John Cockayne also joined the enterprise, though the latter withdrew in 1851.  In that year, the firm was listed as Padley, Parkin & Staniforth in Hartshead, Sheffield, and exhibited Sheffield Plate at the Great Exhibition.  William had moved to London and the Sheffield operations were directed by George Parkin and Benjamin Staniforth.  George Parkin died on 4 November 1857, aged 59, and was buried in an unconsecrated grave in the General Cemetery.  Henceforth, the firm was Padley, Staniforth & Co, with a silver mark registered from Hartshead in 1857.  Benjamin Staniforth, Byron Road, died on 8 May 1874, aged 67. He left under £3,000.  

William Padley and his son, William Padley Jun. (c.1841-1913), became the partners.  In 1875, William Padley & Son registered a silver mark from Burgess Street.  The Census shows that the workforce was 20 in 1861, 21 in 1871, and 15 in 1881 (with about half the workforce men, and the others boys and women).  Samuel Padley died on 20 July 1866, aged 73.  As a Quaker, his burial in the General Cemetery was unconsecrated.  William Padley, Abbeydale, died on 17 June 1890, aged 73, and was interred in the same unconsecrated ground.  He left £257.  The firm registered another silver mark in 1892 from Howard Street.  William Padley Jun. lived in Heeley with his sons, William and Henry, who joined the family firm.  Padley’s was bankrupt in 1901, but was reconstructed as a limited company (capital £10,000) and again in 1910 (capital £1,000), but was then wound up.