William Tonner & Son
Plasterers
William Tonner & Sons were 'modellers, plasterers, and granite cement workers' founded by William Tonner (c. 1844–1914), and were based at 85 Douglas Street, Glasgow for nearly 50 years. 1 Tonner was initially in business with Edinburgh-born Mitchell Rigali (1828–1887) as Rigali & Tonner, plasterers in Glasgow 2 Rigali was a 'stucco figure maker', whose father, Gaetano Rigali, a sculptor, had sold his own Edinburgh studio's stock in 1838 before going abroad. 3 Mitchell Rigali's son, Joseph (b. 1868 in Glasgow), also worked as a plasterer, albeit in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe). 4
William Tonner left the partnership with Rigali in 1882 to begin his own firm. 5 By 1891, his son James (born c. 1870) was working as a plasterer, and son Thomas (c. 1872–1947) as a tile-layer. Thomas later became a master plasterer. 6 The eldest son, William Jardine Tonner (1868–1912) was a 'plasterer's modeller', and by 1896 had set up his own workshop at 114 West Campbell Street, Glasgow. In censuses and Post Office directories he was described variously as an artist, an artist's sculptor, and a master sculptor. 7
Around 1900 the name of the firm changed to 'William Tonner & Sons'. 8 Following his father's death, James continued trading, and by 1921 had moved from Douglas Street to premises at 158 North Street . 9 William Tonner & Sons disappeared from the telephone directory after 1939. 10
Notes:
1: Birth and death dates, www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk [accessed 21 September 2012]; Glasgow Post Office directories, 1875–1927.
2: Edinburgh Gazette, 15 December 1882, p. 1027; Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1878–9, p. 409; birth and death dates, www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk [accessed 21 September 2012].
3: Birth and death, www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk [accessed 21 September 2012]; Scotsman, 21 July 1832, p. 3; 17 March 1838, p. 1.
4: Birth, marriage and death dates, www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk [accessed 21 September 2012].
5: Edinburgh Gazette, 15 December 1882, p. 1027; Glasgow Herald, 25 December 1882, p. 1.
6: 1891 and 1901 Scottish census information, www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk [accessed 21 September 2012].
7: Birth, death and census information, www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk [accessed 21 September 2012]; Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1896–7, p. 560; 1898–9, p. 592.
8: Glasgow Post Office directories, 1875–1927.
9: Glasgow Post Office directories, 1875–1927.
10: British Phone Books 1880–1984, online database, www.ancestry.co.uk [accessed 21 September 2012].
