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4 unusual facts about Chubb detector lock


Chubb detector lock

In 1817, a burglary in Portsmouth Dockyard which had been carried out using false keys to gain entry prompted the British Government to announce a competition to produce a lock that could be opened only with its own key.

The first detector lock was produced in 1818 by Jeremiah Chubb of Portsmouth, England, as the result of a Government competition to create an unpickable lock.

Jeremiah Chubb, who was working with his brother, Charles, as a ship's outfitter and ironmonger in Portsmouth, invented and patented his detector lock in 1818.

The Chubb lock reportedly became popular as a result of the interest generated when George IV accidentally sat on a Chubb lock that still had the key inserted.



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