Thomas Glaholm (1834-1888) was the son of a Newcastle steam flour miller.
He moved to Sunderland in 1857 and began the Hendon Patent Ropery with his brother-in-law, Samuel Sinclair Robson.
[2] 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.
Glaholm and Storey shared the same Radical and Liberal ideals and, some 10 years later, they went on to become two of the founding members of the Sunderland Echo newspaper.
[7] Glaholm was a Liberal who served as a councillor on Sunderland Town Council from 1863 to 1878, spending time as chairman of the Finance Committee.