History of Locks
Great Britain
Locks that inspired the World
» THE EVENTS OF THE CORONATION weekend - whatever your views on Monarchy - the moving tradition of the ceremony cannot be questioned . Exchange the ‘ Sword of Offering ’, prominently featured in the proceedings , with the universal symbol of our own trade ; the key , or widely adopted as the ‘ Key of Enlightenment ’ which embodies all the elements of the ‘ Locksmiths Creed ’. Like the state pageantry and tradition played out in London , our own trade also plays to the embodiment of strong principles and morals found within the key or put another way ; ‘ locksmithing keyways ’ or the ‘ Ways of the Locksmith ’. Great Britain continues to inspire both at home and especially abroad ; so we continue to explore some of these home grown inventions .
^ The arrangement of Bramah ’ s first model , note that initially lateral double acting tumblers were used .
> The Trophy , out of its case , on display during one of our open days .
^ Chubb Detector Lock from the Aubin Trophy .
The Georgians
In previous articles we talked about how both Bramah and Chubb inspired the world and continued to do so even today ; both of these original patents did exactly what patents were designed to do – protect the patentee for a period of years but also , and perhaps more importantly , to inspire other inventers . Aubin , talking about the inspiration to make his Lock Trophy comments that at a glance anyone might see the whole art of the locksmith and might be inspired to further develop the principles of that art . The trophy may be seen in our Heritage Rooms if you too would like to be inspired , as Aubin had intended …
^ Bramah ’ s lock , from the Trophy ; this photo one of a series of the trophy detailing all the locks assembled and unassembled taken when Chubb acquired Hobbs in the 1950s . Note the sliders with false notches , the padlock Hobbs picked didn ’ t have false notches .
The Victorians
The next milestone was the Victorian Era . Aubin had produced his trophy demonstrating the state of the art up to the early years of the Victorian Era . Prince Albert , Queen Victoria ’ s husband , was the main driving force behind the first ever world Exposition which opened on 1st May 1851 and ran through to 15th October 1851 . This exhibition attracted many lock makers both from this country and from overseas . One such overseas exhibitor was from America : Alfred Hobbs . His selling technique was to demonstrate the vulnerability of existing locks ; and so the great lock controversy was born after he had seemingly defeated those two principles of Bramah and Chubb . Every locksmith is aware of the Hobbs lock defeating story , but one result was a re-inspiration of some of the Georgian locking principles , antipressure , anti-violence and gunpowder resisting qualities to name just a few enhancements . Hobbs later admitted
^ The earliest known Chubb detector lock dated December 1819 , note the solid rocker arm detector .
^ Chatwoods anti-preasure device , clearly seen in the top right of this image .
< Price ’ s antipressure system mounted on a plate at the bottom of the pack , a picklock causes the bolt stump to pivot out of alignment .
48
MAY / JUN 2023
locksmithjournal . co . uk Issue Takeover
Magazine Sponsor