The partners were Henry Hancock (1826-1904) and William Parker Hancock (1845-1919).   Henry was apparently born in Hallam, the son of John Hancock (a cutler) and his wife, Ann.   Henry had an older brother, George, and a sister, Amelia (b. 1819).  William Parker Hancock was christened at the parish church, but no father appeared in the register.  His mother was Amelia, a ‘spinster’, which suggests that William was illegitimate.  

Henry and William lived at the same address in Ellison Street in 1861.  Henry was enumerated as a 34-year-old cutler; William as a 16-year-old apprentice.   Their spring knife business was launched in the early 1860s in Edward Street.  In 1871, the firm was listed as Hancock & Sons, Edward Street / Scotland Street.   The Census in that year stated that Henry was a spring knife cutler (master), employing six men and four boys, with his daughters also helping with the business.  In 1876, the address was New Edward Street, with the firm listed as a spring knife and Bowie maker.  Henry lived in Powell Street, which was also the home of George Hancock, the Bowie knife maker of Love Street (this was presumably Henry’s brother).   By 1879, the partners had apparently been joined by Henry’s son, John Turner Hancock (1853-1935).   By 1889, when the address was Cambridge Works, New Edward Street, the partners were living nearby in Weston Street, Netherthorpe.   Henry died on 13 February 1904, aged 77, leaving £478.   Apparently, William P. Hancock and John T. Hancock continued to run the business.   It apparently ceased trading after 1921, when the address of H. & W. Hancock & Son was Radford Place.   William Parker Hancock, Burns Road, died on 9 June 1919, aged 74, leaving £447.   John T. Hancock, Weston Street, died on 31 August 1935, aged 81, leaving £213.