Factory production gave rise to the modern city, and with increased urbanisation came increased crime. Two enterprising brothers, Charles and Jeremiah Chubb, invented what was called the ‘Detector Lock’ – the first and original secure lock mechanism whose design and construction has remained largely unchanged for nearly 200 years.
The patented lock was advertised in the 1820s for use on ‘iron doors and frames, chests and bookcases’ and in the first century of Chubb’s existence, more than two and a half million locks were made.
After the invention and patenting of the Detector Lock, Charles Chubb opened a factory in Wolverhampton in the UK and concentrated on the manufacture and sale of locks, as well as the development of further security products. By 1827 Chubb was supplying wrought iron doors, safes and boxes to order, along with locks. In 1835 a patent was taken out for a burglar-resistant safe and by the mid 1840s Chubb had become a household name, even appearing in playbills and popular verses of the time.
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