Errol's Novel Question

[Chrispy]

Hi

I’ve been looking through your Lock Picking 101 for quite some time now, and I must say I am most impressed at the vast amount of information you have here. Congratulations! It’s a wonderful site.

I wonder if you could help me with what is perhaps a slightly unusual request, please. I’ve looked through your FAQs and did a number of searches, as I’ve seen your newcomers often advised to do, but haven’t found anything relevant to my query.

My problem is as follows: I’m busy writing a story (another pastime) set in about 1880-1900. One of the important scenes involves my main character (an experienced jailbreaker) escaping from a newly-built jail that he’d been locked into following a bet with the jailer. The jailer had said that he (the jailbreaker) wouldn’t be able to get out of this jail, because it had been equipped with the latest and most modern (at the time) locks.

So what I’d like to know is what type of lock could’ve been considered new and advanced enough at the time to present problems to my jailbreaker, for whom earlier locks no longer presented a difficulty (and my next problem will be how he finally succeeds in overcoming this new lock).

Please note that it’s not meant to be a historically accurate story, so I don’t need any intricate technical details. All I want to do is give a short general description that sounds reasonably feasible.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

I’d also like to add that all the postings I’ve read on LP 101 make the art of lock picking sound so interesting that as soon as I have the time I’m going to get a few hacksaw blades from the hardware shop and try grinding out a few picks for myself (this seems about the most realistic way to go) and have a go at this fascinating skill. It sounds great fun!

Errol

It would help to tell us what country this is taking place in. If the story was set in England, it would most likely be some sort of lever lock. Robert Barron patented the first lever lock to contain tumblers (very similar the the lever locks of today) in 1778. Alternatively, Joseph Bramah made a strange "slider" lock (similar to a tubular lock) in 1798. And in 1817, Jeremiah Chubb created a 4 lever tumbler rim lock with a curtain that came across the keyway as it was turning, making it more difficult to pick. It wasn't picked until 1851 by Alfred Hobbs.

Although in America, pin tumbler locks were created as early as 1805 by Abraham Stansbury, although his lock was never sold.

To tell you the truth, I could go on forever about this, so I'll throw it open to the rest of the community. Hope this helps.

[raimundo]

You should read "len deightons 'The great train robbery' " this author did the research, and has much about the london criminal underground, it has an escape from newgate prison, It tells of the organization of criminals by their skills in london, a bit of the special slang that they used, and a great deal of it is about the methods used for defeating the locks in those days. (the movie has Sean Connery)

[Grudge]

Errol, you may want to check out http://www.1st-net-lock-museum.com/jl1.htm for a lot of neat pictures and background. The 'spiked' keys are particularly interesting. Also, since early most jail locks used levers, the introduction of the Yale Pin tumbler (in 1848, improved 1861) might be the 'change' you need.

[Errol]

Hi to all

Many thanks for all the good ideas.

Crispy, thanks for opening the new thread for me. (I’m not too sure of how all these things work!)

OK, the country. I’m in South Africa, so the setting I’m thinking of is South Africa, though I don’t plan to mention the name. In fact, I even have a specific jail in mind, but again, I won’t use the name in the story, so it’s just kind of for my mental picture as I go along with my story. The jail was opened in 1873, and it’s actually true that a well-known jailbreaker/bandit/rogue of the time, broke out of the jail immediately after its opening. The jailer bet him he couldn’t do it, so he took him on and won the bet. Unfortunately there’s no record of how he did it, and the jail itself has been knocked down.

Conditions in South Africa at the time would’ve been similar to those in Britain, but a few years behind. So Jeremiah Chubb’s 4 lever tumbler rim lock with a curtain that came across the keyway as it was turning might be a good idea. And then “getting around the curtain” could perhaps be the way he managed to do it. Though that’s probably not accurate, it sounds like the thing a non-lock specialist would understand. What do you think?

Raimundo, thanks for the tip about “The great train robbery”. It sounds as if it’s a book that could be useful for my story, and also just for a pleasant read anyway. It could possibly be too new, historically I mean, for the period I’m writing about, but I’ll certainly look for a copy and read it. I don’t recall reading anything of Len Deighton’s before, so that’ll be a new experience.

Grudge, thanks for the reference to the Lock Museum website. I’ve had a quick look at it and, as you rightly say, there are some wonderful pictures and loads of information. I’ll look through it in a bit more detail later, checking especially exactly what “spiked” keys are and how the Yale pin tumbler works. The date of its introduction will fit nicely. I’ll just have to look at how it differs from the lever locks that preceded it.

Thanks again to all for the most helpful information. Of course, at this rate I’ll end up writing a whole lot more than just one little jailbreak story! Great!

Errol

[Chrispy]

You owe us acknowledgements....

[Errol]

Oh, I'll remember that. My first problem is to get the story written, but don't worry, I won't forget your help.
Errol
Oh, PS, sorry Chrispy, I notice I mistyped your name last night. Apologies.

[Santos718]

Do you have a title in mind for the novel.

[Chrispy]

Oh, I'll remember that. My first problem is to get the story written, but don't worry, I won't forget your help.
Errol
Oh, PS, sorry Chrispy, I notice I mistyped your name last night. Apologies.

Someone who appreciates the correct spelling of a username..... nice.

P.S. I have a thing about people forgetting the h.

[Santos718]

Oh, I'll remember that. My first problem is to get the story written, but don't worry, I won't forget your help.
Errol
Oh, PS, sorry Chrispy, I notice I mistyped your name last night. Apologies.

Someone who appreciates the correct spelling of a username..... nice.

P.S. I have a thing about people forgetting the h.

yes we know, its can get pretty violent and ugly

[quicklocks]

it can get a bit hairy here. handbags at twenty paces

[Santos718]

Do you have a title in mind for the novel.

Reason for me asking is that I'm thinking of a design for the cover, and need a name to make it easier to relate to.

[Errol]

First off, it's going to be (hopefully!) a short story, not a novel. Thanks once again to the clever Chrispy for the ingenious subject - a novel question. I like that. Your linguistic expertise didn't go unnoticed, Chrispy. (And it's right to have a thing about the h. After all, it's either right or wrong. And if it's wrong then it's wrong and must be fixed, not so?)

But, of course, novel or short story, it still needs a title. However, no, I'm afraid I'm a long way from thinking about a title. I'm still trying to catch up on my lock knowledge so that I can say something intelligent about that. (And, incidentally, I started grinding down my first hacksaw blade this afternoon. But it doesn't fit into any keyways yet, so I reckon I'll have to do some more grinding ... bothers me though that it might get too weak. We shall see.)

Errol

[Chrispy]

(And, incidentally, I started grinding down my first hacksaw blade this afternoon. But it doesn't fit into any keyways yet, so I reckon I'll have to do some more grinding ... bothers me though that it might get too weak. We shall see.)

Errol

Be sure to quench the blade when it starts getting hot and try to keep the shaft (the part in between the handle and the head) the same thickness. You shouldn't have any problems with breaking picks. I used to think (back in the day) that my homemades would break easily too. The only ones I broke had thin parts in the shaft that, when raking, caused it to snap. Out came the needle nose pliers....

[Jimmie]

and .... a true story - not from the same time you want to mention in your story - but this will give you an idea how some people escaped from a Pretoria prison after months of preparation ... opening 14 locks to fly away !!

http://www.anc.org.za/books/escape0.html

Jimmie

[Chrispy]

Wow, 14 locks. Prison locks to boot....