Jeremiah Chubb

Chubb's Lock (On the Construction of Locks and Keys, Institution of Civil Engineers, 1850, p. 14)

Historical figure.

Jeremiah Chubb invented and patented his detector lock in 1818 (Chubb lock). Building on earlier work by Robert Barron and Joseph Bramah, Jeremiah developed a four-lever lock that, when subjected to attempted picking, or use of the wrong key, would stop working until a special key was used to reset it.

In the Sherlock Holmes stories

A Scandal in Bohemia (1891)

• A Chubb lock was installed on Briony Lodge door (SCAN 303).

The Golden Pince-Nez (1904)

• Professor Coram had a Chubb key for his bureau (GOLD 300).

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