History of Locks
The History
of Locks –
10 Years On
Amazingly it has been ten years since
I started to write on historical locks in
The Locksmith Journal. A lot of ground
has been covered, a lot of historical
locks have been described; but also
a lot has happened in that time with
our mission to preserve the heritage
of our trade. As it’s traditional at this
time of the year, not just for the past
12 months, but from the last decade,
I’ve collected some of the highlights of
the artefacts at our heritage museum.
» EARLY ON IN THIS PAST
decade we received
collections from two families
now living in the south of the
country. It’s always sad when
industry innovators pass,
names like Jack Taylor and
Bill Stanton, both with many
patents and inventions to
their names; in both cases the
families donating artefacts
and documents recognising
the contributions these men
made to the lock world; and
in both cases dairies were
kept, it’s interesting when you
get two takes on the same
topic which happens not
infrequently.
Jack Taylor, a past
president of the MLA and
inventor of the Ingersoll
lock was originally with
Vaughan (H&TV) where he
held the position of Head
Draughtsman. When the
company was acquired
by Yale here in the UK he
Jack Taylor was born in Tettenhall, pictured here
about the time of his famous lock invention.
Jack’s school/collage work books demonstrating his
thorough understanding of mechanical principles.
continued not just solving
design problems but also
inventing new products,
he was also responsible
for laying out the early Yale
catalogues. Later, in war time
Britain, he was ordered to
Ingersoll (watches) by the
A portal key made by apprentice Fred Cottee, awarded after Taylors
50 years in the industry; it demonstrates three of his principal
Ingersoll inventions. This key is now part of the HoL collection
ensuring that his contributions are remembered for a very long time.
58
Ministry of Aircraft Production
(MAP) to design locking,
locating and releasing devices
for the war effort. It was here
that the famous Ingersoll lock
was invented in a moment
of inspiration during an air
raid. Although the original
Ingersoll Company has now
been absorbed by Assa Abloy
and all but disappeared some
aspects have survived in the
recently launched Fin Lock
developed by Andrew Taylor
who has also spent a lifetime
working with locks and carries
on with his father’s deep
design understanding in both
mechanical and electronic
locking. I’m sure more will
appear in these pages on the
Fin lock in the future.
JAN/FEB 2020
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