Scott Klemm wroteDoes anyone know anything about Tildesley before forming the Carpenter & Tildesley Company? I think my padlock may date before the company was formed around 1844. I believe it may have been made by Samuel Tildesley of Wolverhampton Street, Willenhall. I would appreciate hearing the opinions or information other collectors can provide.
Looking again at the picture, it appears to be cast iron, which makes me think it is later rather than early. The Carpenter liftup latch was numbered No.60 - numbers seem to have been plucked off the wall, for no obvious reason. But this has a much higher number, suggesting it might be later. I have no proof, just a surmise.
lockmaking families and their businesses were inter-married and inter-connected, and some markings (notably VR PAT.) were copied and repeated. However, it probably pre-dates the era when so many small makers sold entirely to distributers, wholesalers who forbade marking with actual maker’s names.
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