 Thomas Glaholm, the son of steam flour miller Thomas Glaholm, was born in Gateshead in December 1834.He moved to Sunderland in 1857 and began the "Hendon Patent Ropery" with his brother-in-law, Samuel Sinclair Robson.The Glaholm and Robson manufacturing plant quickly proved a success and, in the mid-1860s, it employed a young Samuel Storey as a travelling salesman.