[2] Tobin's work was largely uncredited, often branded under the names of his employers and other shops that enlisted him for his sought-after workmanship.

Morris describes how at the age of fourteen, Tobin made a fairly good instrument out of a willow block and sold it to a neighbouring fiddle player.

The neighbour is said to have brought the instrument to the attention of renowned Dublin luthier, Thomas Perry, who was so impressed with its workmanship that he decided to take Tobin on as his apprentice.

Tobin's earliest London work is dated 1810 and appears to have been made under the aegis of Henry Lockey Hill.

The few instruments which bear his label are typically copies of Amati or Stradivari violins, and they are said to have a rich and mellow tone.

[19] Tobin is regarded as one of the greatest ever scroll carvers, and his hand can be recognized on many instruments with the shop label of John Betts, Thomas Dodd, Samuel Gilkes and Henry Lockey Hill.

[4] Some of his instruments were signed internally on the table and occasionally branded below the back button, although authentic Tobin labels are extremely rare.

Tobin married an Irish woman named Elizabeth Daley (born c. 1777) in Cork around the time he was working for Bartholomew Murphy.

By 1841, Tobin was living with his wife and two daughters at 65 New Compton Street in St Giles, London, according to the UK Census.

One of his violins, made in London c. 1820, is now part of The Harrison-Frank Family Foundation collection and is currently on loan to violinist Emma Pantel.

[24] One of his pochettes (also known as a kit or dance master's fiddle) is currently housed in the National Music Museum, Vermillion, South Dakota.