WJ Robson & Sons: Ballarat's glaziers since 1909.

The same family, the same shopfront, five generations on.

Robson Glass is a fifth-generation, family-owned glazier in Ballarat, founded in 1909 and trading from the same walk-in shopfront for the past 80 years. What began as a lead lighting studio grew into a full glazing business covering repairs, retrofit double glazing, shower screens, mirrors and heritage leadlight for homeowners across Ballarat and regional Victoria.

1909

Five generations of the same family, at the same Ballarat shopfront

From a lead lighting studio to Ballarat's leading glaziers

Robson Glass began in 1909, when William James Robson came out from England as an apprentice to the renowned stained glass artist William Montgomery. WJ Robson worked in Melbourne for a few years, then moved to Ballarat and set up his own studio. That studio is where it all started.

Over the years the business grew from lead lighting into full-service glazing, but it never let go of the craft it was built on. Today we still cut and fit glass for everyday repairs, and we still make and restore leadlight by hand in the same workshop.

Five generations of Robsons have run the business since then. It passed from William James Robson down through the family, and today it is looked after by two of us, both Robsons, who took over from the previous generation. Plenty of the family still lives locally.

What began as a one-man lead lighting studio is now the glazier locals call for everything from a smashed window to a warmer home.

You can walk in and shake our hand

Most glaziers work out of a factory on an industrial estate, or from the back of a van. We keep a shopfront in Ballarat that you can walk into, talk to a real person, and look at samples before you commit to anything. It costs more to run a shopfront than to work off a mobile phone, and we think it is worth it. In person is how we have always done it.

That matters more than it sounds. A lot of what comes up online for “glazier Ballarat” looks local but is not. It is lead-generation dressed up as a local business, with no shop, no history and no one to walk in and see.

We are the opposite. We have traded from the same Ballarat premises for around 80 years.

Our name is on the building, and the door is open.

One local glazier for every glazing job

Whether it is a broken window tonight or double glazing for a warmer home this winter, we are the same family team and offer the same standard of work. No single glazier in the district covers as much as we do.

A heritage trade you can't buy off the shelf

The lead lighting we started with in 1909 is still part of the business. We make new leadlight windows, and we restore old ones. Some of that work is big: whole church windows that were built more than a century ago and had fallen apart, taken out pane by pane, rebuilt, and put back. There are only a handful of people left doing restoration like that.

We also make our own lead, the profiles that hold a leadlight window together, in our own workshop. To our knowledge only about three businesses in Australia still do that. It is niche, and it is a small slice of what we do day-to-day, but it is a genuine point of difference, and it is the kind of skill you simply cannot buy from most glaziers.

We are quietly proud of it. It is not the loudest thing on our website, but it is part of why all our everyday glazing jobs are done properly too.

Ballarat glaziers at work in the Robson workshop

These photos come from the Robson family records. They show the old workshop, where each job was drawn up, cut and made by hand. The same skills still go into the work we do for Ballarat homes today.

Draughting department

Where jobs and designs were drawn up before any glass was cut.

Cutting plate glass

Large sheets of plate glass cut to size by hand on the long bench.

Lead light department

Leadlight panels made by hand, the craft the business started with.

Honest answers and local advice

Reputation is the whole reason a five-generation business is still here, so we protect it in how we deal with people.

We answer the phone and turn up when we say we will

For most jobs we can give you an estimate over the phone, and there is no call-out fee to come out, measure and quote in the local area if required.

We tell you the honest version

Sometimes that means telling you a job is not worth claiming on insurance once you factor in the excess, or that an expensive add-on is something you can do yourself for far less. We would rather keep you as a customer for the next 20 years than win one job.

We treat every job the same

A small reglaze and a large double-glazing project get the same care. If we do it, we do it properly, clean up after ourselves, and we will still be here if you ever need us again.

Est. 1909 · Five generations · Same family · Same shopfront

Glaziers for Ballarat and the towns around it

We are based in Ballarat and cover the district, roughly an hour in every direction. That includes Ararat, Stawell and the Grampians, along with Beaufort, Maryborough, Daylesford, Buninyong and the towns in between. Not sure if we reach you? Check our service areas, or just ask.

Accredited, insured, and here for the long run

Accredited

AGWA V1143

Member firm

Standard

AS 2208

Safety glazing

Cover

Fully insured

Home & commercial

Established

1909

Family owned & operated

AGWA accredited (Australian Glass and Window Association), membership number V1143. Glazes to Australian Standards, including AS 2208 for safety glass and shower screens. Fully insured, family-owned and operated since 1909.

Five generations of Ballarat glaziers. We'd be glad to help you.

Broken glass, a cold home, a new shower screen or a heritage window that needs saving. Tell us about the job and we will give you a fair price.

Phone (shop)

03 5332 2078

sales@robsonglass.com.au

Broken glass after hours? Our after-hours emergency line is 0418 508 429.

Prefer to talk? Call the shop on 03 5332 2078. We will come back with honest advice and a fair price.

WJ Robson & Sons: Ballarat's glaziers since 1909.

From a lead lighting studio to Ballarat's leading glaziers

You can walk in and shake our hand

One local glazier for every glazing job

Glass repair & replacement

Retrofit double glazing

Shower screens

Mirrors & splashbacks

Pool fencing & balustrades

Heritage leadlight & restoration