Moved to London from Denmark, where he worked at John Penn & Son in Greenwich before moving to the Clyde after the Crimean War. Joined the shipbuilding firm of Coulborn & Co. 1874 - took over the business renaming it Lobnitz, Coulborn & Co. 1890 - restructured the partnership, bringing in his son, Frederick and William A Young, and renaming it Lobnitz & Co.