68 History Of Locks
An Inspired Vision from a
Yorkshire Man – Joseph Bramah
The Bramah lock could be considered the first real security lock. Invented in
1784, 230 years later - the design principle remains largely unchanged.
»»Joseph Bramah was a
very talented and productive
inventor with 18 patents to his
name, including diverse items
such as a hydraulic press to a
water closet, he was way ahead
of his time.
The Bramah lock story is
fascinating and full of intrigue,
twists and turns.
It’s true, that Robert Barron’s
invention a few years earlier
was the first to patent a lock
with the ‘double acting’
principle, and of course
this was ground breaking
at the time and shouldn’t
be underestimated. For the
first time, wards and the
fundamental weaknesses of
the skeleton key was finally
no longer the guardian
of security. Instead, the
principles of locking were
beginning to be understood
and explored. Although Barron
had significantly raised the
bar in the sense that double
acting, moving tumblers
gave enhanced security, the
number of permutations or
differs were soon found to
be disappointingly low, and
wards continued to be used as
well as tumblers.
A little later his lock was
developed further, as provided
for in the original patent, and
the conventional ‘H’ pocket
levers were widely adopted
and later became generically
known as Chubb levers,
particularly in mainland
Europe.
However this story is about
Joseph Bramah and his
visionary lock invention. Born
in Barnsley, South Yorkshire
on the 2nd April 1749 to his
tenant farmers Joseph Bramah
Senior and wife Mary.
Whether, at age 16 an
injury rendered him unable
to peruse a farming career
or perhaps the appeal of
emerging technologies had
a greater appeal, is not clear,
but what is known is th ]B