William Varney was baptised on 22 October 1820 at St Mary’s Church, Nottingham, the son of John and Ann.  His early life is unknown, though he may have been living at Worksop by 1841 and training as a saddler.  He did not appear in a Sheffield directory until 1849, when he was listed as a spring knife maker at Trafalgar Street, with a residence on the Ecclesall Road.   In 1851, he and his wife, Emma, and family were living in Milton Street.  A decade later, the family residence was at Fitzwilliam Street.  William told the Census that he employed one boy at Trafalgar Street.  William Varney, of Oak Street, Heeley, died on 6 February 1868, aged 47.  He was buried at the General Cemetery.