Australian historian/researcher says hello and thank you; H & T Vaughan locks

MelbLock

Greetings to all and thank you for the opportunity to join and post. My specific area of interest is architectural history of which (I believe), locks play a very useful role in confirming or establishing dates. I am currently faced with a dilemma regarding the dating of H & T Vaughan door locks and trust those with knowledge may be able to set me on the right path.

I will be adding an image shortly but essentially my problem concerns an early (by Australian standards) house south of Hobart, Tasmania and its apparently original H & T Vaughan door locks. The problem is that the house has documentation confirming an at least pre 1845 construction, whereas what little information I can find on H & T Vaughan has the company being registered in 1856.

Ok.. obvious I hear you say… the locks were clearly fitted later, right? There is little evidence of any later fitting and the locks are all the same and feature the early trade mark (six pointed star and crescent moons). Each lay buried under layers of paint and when removed show no evidence of any previous fitting. Certainly the doors and locks could both date from a later time (ten years at least) but this seems illogical somehow.

Could some of the learned members confirm the earlier marketing of these locks.. perhaps they were sold under this mark before the company was officially registered or perhaps the information re 1856 is simply incorrect. From what I know Abe Vaughan started the company and his three sons continued the business. William Vaughan apparently took over from his father but that firm was seemingly registered three years before William was born. The other sons Henry and Thomas were still only in their teens in 1856 when that branch was registered. Perhaps someone has the answers or can offer a solution… I believe the locks date from the 1840s but can I prove it?

More updates to follow.

Tom Gordon

Check the hinges and especially the woodworking around the strike plate.
One possibility is that they put new doors throughout the house and fitted new locks on the new doors. One of the other possibilities is more likely though, as people were far less likely to trash perfectly good stuff in those days.

MelbLock

Tom Gordon wrote
Check the hinges and especially the woodworking around the strike plate.
One possibility is that they put new doors throughout the house and fitted new locks on the new doors. One of the other possibilities is more likely though, as people were far less likely to trash perfectly good stuff in those days.

Hello Gordon, many thanks for the reply. I’m sorry I still haven’t located an image for the post (coming shortly). I should also say that the locks used are typical rim locks and yes, I have checked all the hinges and striker plates or keepers( is the latter an American term?) for any evidence or earlier fittings and cannot find any. the house is a rural farm property and little work was undertaken on the building until extensions in the 1970s. The doors and locks concerned come from the unaltered section of the building .

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