Dating back to ancient Egypt (possibly even farther than that) locks have a long history. Unfortunately, for much of that history, they were not very good. Jerimiah Chubb changed that.

The Problem

During the height of the Industrial revolution, access to wealth and prosperity for the common man soared. Unfortunately, crime rates did as well. Locks in generally were not very secure. In 1817, counterfeit keys enabled a burglary at Portsmouth Dockyard. The British government had enough and opened a competition to create a lock that would only open with its own key, one impervious to the craft of the pick lock.

Unlike many government initiatives, this one proved spectacularly successful.

The Patent

In 1818, 28-year-old  Jeremiah Chubb created and patented a ‘detector lock’ unlike anything ever seen. The intricately constructed lock would jam with any attempt to open it without using its proper key.  At first, a specialized regulator key had to be used to reset the lock. But the design was updated a few years later so that the original key  could be used to reset the lock. For his efforts, Chubb won  £105, roughly the equivalent of £10,000 today. He and his elder brother Charles used the money to found a business that would change the world of locksmithing.

In the three decades during which the lock was considered ‘perfect security,’ Chubb had many notable supporters. George IV was one of Chubbs major advocates, helping the company to secure important contracts, including ones with the post office and the prison service. In 1828, the Duke of Wellington used Chubb locks on his front door at Aspley House. Queen Victoria visited the Chubb display at the 1851 Festival of Britain and offered her praise.   

Ironically, at the Great Exhibition of 1851, an international exhibition of manufactured products, (held at the same time as the Festival of Britain) Chubb both pulled of a spectacular publicity stunt and suffered the first defeat of his lock.

Such was the confidence in Chubb’s lock that he was permitted to display the Koh-i-Nor diamond, one of the crown jewels, guarded by one of his locks. While the diamond was not stolen, an American locksmith, A.C. Hobbs answered the challenge to pick Chubb’s lock and did so in less than half an hour.

Instead of laying down in defeat, Chubb identified the weakness of his design which allowed visual and physical access to the lock mechanism through the keyhole. He then introduced an improved design to retard such access.

The Chubb company operated until 1984. Chubb locks were produced until 2010, when the brand license expired and its current owners decided not to renew the license.

And now you know why in “Wrighting Old Wrongs“, Rebecca Fuller had a Chubb defender lock on her workshop!

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In case you ever wondered what it takes to pick a lock:

References

Andrews, Mark. How brothers secured their place in history with a word-leading invention. Shropshire Star. December 6, 2021. Accessed January 22, 2024. https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/features/2021/12/06/how-brothers-secured-their-place-in-history/

Chubb , Sir George Hayter and Walter Graham Churcher. The House of Chubb 1818-1918. Wolverhamption History and Heritage Website.  Accessed February 22, 2024. http://historywebsite.co.uk/Museum/locks/gazetteer/chubbstory/chapter1.htm

Evans, Jim. Chubbs. A Gazetteer of Lock and Key Makers. Wolverhamption History and Heritage Website.  2002. Accessed January 22, 2024.  http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/Museum/locks/gazetteer/chubbs.htm

Jeremiah Chubb: The Detector Lock Enigma. The Color of Hope.  September 22, 2023 Accessed January 12, 2024. https://www.thecolourofhope.org/120-jeremiah-chubb.html

Low Rate Locksmith.  History of Chubb Detector Locks. Low Rate Lock Smith. Accessed January 12, 2024. https://www.lowratelocksmith.com/locks/chubb-detector-lock/

Lucian, Daniel. Chubb. Antique Box. Accessed January 2, 2024. https://www.antiquebox.org/chubb/

Lucian, Daniel. The Chubb Detector Lock. Antique Box. Accessed January 2, 2024. https://www.antiquebox.org/chubb/

Mars, Roman. The Locksmith Who Picked Two “Unbeatable” Locks and Ended the Era of “Perfect Security”. The Eye: Slate’s Design Blog.  Apr 15, 2015. Accessed February 22, 2024. https://www.slate.com/blogs/the_eye/2015/04/15/a_history_of_lockpicking_from_99_percent_invisible_and_roman_mars.html