In directories, the establishment date was stated as 1770 or 1778.  The roots lay in Smith & Moorhouse.  William Parkin (great-grandson of Josephus Parkin) acquired the assets and in 1845 took William Marshall into partnership.  The latter died at his residence in South Street, Park, on 16 October 1852, aged 45, from ‘liver inflammation’.  A Methodist at Scotland Street Chapel, his unconsecrated burial was in the General Cemetery.  Parkin was partnered by Henry Beauvoisin until 1854, when he continued alone.  In 1855, he expanded the business by occupying John Brown’s former Atlas Works in Furnival Street for the manufacture of steel and files.  Parkin & Marshall’s premises in Furnival Street were known as Telegraph Works.  The firm’s staple items were table cutlery and pocket knives.  It received an Honourable Mention at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851.

In about 1859, William Parkin also launched Crown Steel, File & Tool Works, in Arundel Street.  His partner was traveller Henry Riley (1817-1891).  The Sheffield directory (1860) carried a full-page advertisement for both firms, which contained the customary warning about trade mark fraud.  This partnership was dissolved in 1861.  However, Parkin continued as William Parkin & Co, Crown Steel Works, Furnival Street, selling steel, files, and saws.  Parkin & Marshall also sold electro-plate products, after registering silver marks in 1866 and 1885.  The corporate mark was ‘XL ALL’ (granted 1789 and registered by Parkin in 1853).  Other marks were the words ‘SHARP EDGE’ with a picture of a sea shell and crossed axes; and a top hat (granted 1874). 

William Parkin, Endcliffe Vale, died on 19 January 1873, aged 49.  His unconsecrated burial was in the General Cemetery.  He left under £18,000.  His sons, William and Bernard, took control (employing about 100 hands in 1881).  In the 1890s, they relocated to Sylvester Street.  In 1907, William Parkin & Co Ltd was registered by William (with £10,000 capital), after his partnership with Bernard ended.  The assets of Parkin & Marshall were sold to Michael Hunter and, in turn, to Needham, Veall & Tyzack.  The latter marketed ‘XL ALL’ stainless cutlery in the 1920s. William Parkin & Co Ltd continued to trade as a saw maker in Sylvester Street.  It apparently had a door-handle-spindle mark, which was acquired by S. Hibbert.  William Parkin Jun. was still associated with this company after the First World War.  William Parkin, Broomhill House, Watson Road, died on 12 July 1919, aged 73.  He was interred in Ecclesall cemetery, leaving £8,373.