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Padlocks hoard expected to sell for thousands

Yvonne Brissett
BBC Midlands Today
BBC Michael Hamson pictured inside the house. He wears a blue jumper over a white shirt and has short white hair. BBC
Michael Hamson said he unexpectedly inherited the Staffordshire house which was built in the 1700s

A handyman who inherited an 18th Century home made a rare discovery which could unlock thousands of pounds at auction.

Michael Hamson, 79, unexpectedly came into ownership of the house in Brewood, Staffordshire, when its former owner Mary Eileen Jones, who he had helped with odd jobs for decades, passed away in her 90s.

Looking around the old house, Mr Hamson said he discovered a "boatload" of padlocks, all dating from the 1800s and made by a company founded by one of Ms Jones' ancestors.

Experts estimate the hundreds of locks, designed for securing everything from prisons to castles, could be worth thousands of pounds.

Some of the hundreds of locks discovered by Mr Hamson. They are made of different types of metal, some a yellow brass, others grey steel. Some have plastic ties around their metal "hooks" and some have metal keys in.
The locks were designed for everything from trains and boats to churches and prisons

"We went in and there was a wooden crate all nailed together," Mr Hamson said of when he first viewed the house.

"It was covered in junk and when I wheeled it out, it had quite a lot of locks in."

Noticing a loose panel under the stairs, Mr Hamson said he pulled it off to find "another boatload" of stashed locks.

A man with short white hair sits and smiles at the camera. He has a blue jumper on over a lighter shirt. He sits at a light brown wooden table with a big book open in front of him. He rests his hands on the book and in them is a large yellow padlock, about the size of a human hand. Several other metal locks are spread on the table in front of him.
Mr Hamson said he found a "boatload" of locks in a crate and also hidden under the stairs in the home

They are all hallmarked with branding for E. Jones & Sons, a company founded by local entrepreneur Enoch Jones hundreds of years ago.

He was the great-grandfather of Ms Jones and Mr Hamson found out the business had stayed in the family until her father, Thomas, sold it.

"By the looks of it, he was too attached to let everything go so it's all come here," he added.

Will Farmer A man with short dark brown hair and a short dark brown beard, sits in a red wing-backed chair in a garden. He wears a dark blue suit with a thin yellow check pattern on it, a waistcoat of a similar design, over a dark blue shirt with lighter spots. Behind him are people milling around in the garden, some near tables with a white marquee in the distance.Will Farmer
Expert Will Farmer said the locks could be worth several thousand pounds at auction

Antiques Roadshow expert Will Farmer said the rare discovery could be quite valuable.

"The fact these locks have been held for posterity in this old house to be discovered today is just such an incredible find," he said.

"I think at auction, if these were sold, you're looking at a value of somewhere between £4,000-£6,000."

The collection is set to go under the hammer at Fieldings Auctioneers in Stourbridge on 16 May.

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