Information needed about locksmith, Thomas Turner

lorddlm2

Hi there

I want to know if anyone on this forum has any information on the locksmith, Thomas Turner of Wolverhampton (ie. business established date, address, his history/ achievements etc). Additionally, if anyone has any info on his 1798 Patent lock (as shown in the photos).

I have struggled to find anything on him, and am hoping that someone may be able to help me out.

With thanks

safeman

lorddlm2 wrote
Hi there

I want to know if anyone on this forum has any information on the locksmith, Thomas Turner of Wolverhampton (ie. business established date, address, his history/ achievements etc). Additionally, if anyone has any info on his 1798 Patent lock (as shown in the photos).

I have struggled to find anything on him, and am hoping that someone may be able to help me out.

With thanks

I suggest that if you contact the Team Leader above he might be able to put you in a position to access Issues 20 and 21 of the Lock Collector publication which carry Parts 1 and 2 of the Thomas Turner story.

Meantime there was a lock patented under the name in 1774 which was probably his father. I think Thomas was born in 1798 and died in 1872.

I have a very good reason to look upon the name with a sense of nostalgia as the very first lock I ever had to make a key for in 1948 was the Turner rim lock as fitted to the very earliest Milner Fire-Resisting boxes before he started making safes. That would have been prior to Milner using the Hobbs lock which dated from 1852.

However it’s all there in the articles with excellent illustrations.

[unknown]

lorddlm2

Thank you so much for your reply. May I ask who is this team leader that you referred to, as I would love to find a copy of this article. Never knew it existed.

I think you are right about it being his father. I seem to have read that his father might have been George Turner, based on Stafford Street, Wolverhampton. Might that ring a bell?

My thanks again

lorddlm2

Silly me, I just saw the team leader’s contact link above - my apologies

lorddlm2

Hi there

I was kindly supplied the two Lock collector magazines featuring articles on Thomas Turner by the team leader here. Here lies some confusion…
The Thomas Turner in the article (son of William and Sarah Turner) was born in 1813, whilst the lock in question was initially patented in 1798. The article goes on to mention another local branch of the Turner family that were also locksmiths; George Turner and brother, Thomas Turner. However, in 1841 they were only 45.
I managed to find a copy of a will from 1802 belonging to a Thomas Turner who was a locksmith. This seems like it could be the Thomas Turner in question. All I know of him is that he left everything to his brother, Edward Turner.

Does anyone have any information on this particular Thomas Turner that might have patented this lock in 1798?

My thanks to anyone that can help.

lorddlm2

Hi there

Does anyone have any information on this particular Thomas Turner that might have patented this lock in 1798?

My thanks to anyone that can help.