  Globular clusters are considered to be likely breeding grounds for compact
binary mergers. In this paper, we demonstrate how the gravitational-wave
signals produced by compact object mergers can act as tracers of globular
cluster formation and evolution. Globular cluster formation is a long-standing
mystery in astrophysics, with multiple competing theories describing when and
how globular clusters formed. The limited sensitivity of electromagnetic
telescopes inhibits our ability to directly observe globular cluster formation.
However, with future audio-band detectors sensitive out to redshifts of $z
\approx 50$ for GW150914-like signals, gravitational-wave astronomy will enable
us to probe the Universe when the first globular clusters formed. We simulate a
population of binary black hole mergers from theoretically-motivated globular
cluster formation models, and construct redshift measurements consistent with
the predicted accuracy of third-generation detectors. We show that we can
locate the peak time of a cluster formation epoch during reionisation to within
0.05Gyr after one year of observations. The peak of a formation epoch that
coincides with the Universal star formation rate can be measured to within
0.4Gyr-10.5Gyr after one year of observations, depending on the relative
weighting of the model components.
