History of Locks
The First 200 Years
By Brian Morland
» THE HALCYON AGE OF THE locksmith , widely accepted as from the end of the medieval period to the start of industrialisation ; or to put it another way from the age of enlightenment to the age of industrialisation ( 13th or 14th centuries to the beginning of the 19th century ) was a time when the art and craft of working metals combined with mechanical principles reached its peak . Individual locksmiths would develop their own aesthetic styles and also embed into locks their ideas and security principles in individual and unique ways . The spring barb and the fixed ward were the basic underlying principle and depending on the level of security the locksmith would add additional layers of mechanical ingenuity which , in the best examples , rivalled even the locks of today . Modern locks generally have a lever , or some double acting feature such as a slider , disc or
Just one example of a lock with ‘ secrets ’ and typical of higher status versions in the pre industrial period . Here the wards are carried on a heavily sprung plate that rides on rectangular pillars . The key is turned several times but each revolution has to be with a certain amount of pressure ( or not ) to engage and retract the bolts in a particular sequence and of course is only effective if done in the correct order . The keys for these are quite competently made but I think of them more as a tool to execute the secret sequence , which is of course the real and tangible security aspect – you can almost see the beginnings of the desire for a combination lock .
‘ Individual locksmiths would develop their own aesthetic styles and also embed into locks their ideas and security principles in individual and unique ways ’
pin , at their heart , and like the fixed ward are easily compromised when used on its own ; but add one or more features like for instance the anti-pressure the lock then become considerably more challenging . So it was with warded locks ; the locksmith of the Middle Ages added his own ‘ secrets ’ to his locks making ‘ his ’ lock extremely difficult , if not impossible , to compromise even with the possession of the key !
All this came with a cost ; the handmade nature meant that locks of the highest security could only be used on high status buildings . Towards the end of the Georgian period and with increasing industrialisation and the wealth that was generated , for an increasing proportion of the population , ways to mass produce a lock with good security but also at an affordable price was sought .
Chubbs premises in Portsea , and where Jerimiah Chubb developed and Patented the famous ‘ Detecting Mechanisum ’
Robert Barron – the first to patent the ‘ double acting ’ principle .
Joseph Bramah ’ s first model with six end gated levers , later developed into radial sliders .
Two notable inventions , by English locksmiths in the later part of the 18th century , were to inspire locksmiths and mechanics around the world . The first was that of Robert Barron the other was by Joseph Bramah ; but they both presented the same principle , the double acting principle , in very different ways .
However our story starts around 200 years ago when the criteria for an affordable lock offering good security was found ; and patented by Jerimiah Chubb the lock went on to be one of the most successful ; even today the name CHUBB is still a powerful household brand name , as anyone in the locksmith trade would testify , even though it no longer exists ! So this is the Chubb detector story .
The name Chubb is well known today both within the trade and also by the public at large as a quality lock . But what of its beginnings back in the final years of the Georgian era . At last a lock was invented that offered real security together with affordability . There were many forerunners to the
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JAN / FEB 2021
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