Glaskin was a goldsmith and soap maker. He had been sent to Christ’s Hospital in London at the age of seven and from there to an apprenticeship with Thomas Habgood senior. He became a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in February 1844. In 1849, armed with introductions, he went to seek his fortune at the Swan River commencing his working life in Western Australia as a clerk in the service of Monger & Company at York. In 1853, after his wife joined him, Glaskin established a business in Perth in partnership with Thomas Steven Habgood (junior). When Habgood returned to England, Glaskin moved to premises in St George’s Terrace next to the Boys’ School. Here the stock advertised in the Herald Almanack in 1880 consisted of 'a large assortment of Jewellery, Watches, Clocks, Spectacles, Reading Glasses, Smelling Bottles, Compasses, Thimbles, &c., & CHAINS, RINGS, ETC., MADE TO ORDER’. Although Glaskin advertised in 1880 in the Herald and Inquirer Almanacks as 'The Oldest and Best House in the Trade … GOLDSMITH, JEWELLER, AND WATCHMAKER. (Freeman of Goldsmiths’ Company, City of London)’, he did not restrict himself to goldsmithing. The reason for this may have been economic necessity as other goldsmiths, such as the ex-convicts, were competing for the patronage of all classes. Glaskin had trained his eldest son and from time to time employed ticket-of-leave convicts. This gave him time to be Clerk to the Perth Town Trust and an auctioneer. When there was a shortage of soap in the Colony he turned to manufacturing it, and gained exhibition medals. It was noticeable at the Perth International Exhibition of 1881 that he exhibited soap rather than jewellery. Glaskin died in 1899 at the age of seventy-eight and is said to have worked until about four years prior to his death.
- Writers:
- Dr Dorothy Erickson
- Date written:
- 2010
- Last updated:
- 2011
