Background
Alfred Charles Hobbs was born on October 7, 1812 at Boston, Massachussets, United States. Both of his parents were born in England. When he was but three years old his father died.
(to which is added a description of Mr.J. Beverley fenby's...)
to which is added a description of Mr.J. Beverley fenby's patent locks ,and a note upon iron safes.
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Alfred Charles Hobbs was born on October 7, 1812 at Boston, Massachussets, United States. Both of his parents were born in England. When he was but three years old his father died.
Hobbs grew up with the opportunity to attend school only between attempts to earn small sums toward the support of the family. At the age of ten he entered the home of a farmer in Westfield, Massachussets, remaining there until he was fourteen, when he returned to Boston to be a clerk in a drygoods store. Connected with this occupation for but a short time, he tried in quick succession the trades of woodcarving, carriage-body building, harness making, tinsmithing, and coachtrimming. Finally he drifted into an apprenticeship in the glass-cutting works of the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company, at Sandwich, Massachussets Completing this apprenticeship in 1836, he established himself in Boston as a glass-cutter.
Glass doorknobs were a staple product of Hobbs' trade, and in connection with the cutting of these he invented and patented a method of fastening them into the sockets by which they were attached to the door locks. This invention brought him into contact with lock makers and led him to enter the business of manufacturing locks as junior partner in the firm of Jones & Hobbs.
The enterprise was not a success, the partnership was dissolved, and Hobbs went to New York to sell locks and fireproof safes for Edwards & Holman. This company he left to become salesman for Day & Newell, bank-lock makers of New York. Finding it necessary to prove to bankers that their locks were insecure before they would buy new ones from him, he would pick the locks of his competitors as often as opportunity afforded and soon became known as the most accomplished lock expert in the country. In 1851 he accompanied the Day & Newell exhibit to the international industrial exhibition in London, where he immediately attracted attention by opening the best locks of Chubb, the leading English maker of the period. When he followed this feat with a successful attack upon the famous Bramah lock, which had defied picking for forty years, he not only won a prize of two hundred guineas but became conspicuous in the press of the day.
The wide publicity given to his achievements created doubt as to the security of the best British locks and brought the American products into favor. Taking advantage of this condition, Hobbs formed a partnership known as Hobbs, Ashley, & Company, for the manufacture of locks at Cheapside, London. The firm introduced machine methods and enjoyed a prosperous business. In 1860 Ashley died and Hobbs welcomed the opportunity to withdraw and return to the United States, although the firm continued under the name of Hobbs, Hart & Company.
In 1860 he engineered the building and equipping of a factory for Elias Howe Jr. , manufacturer of sewing machines, and superintended the running of the works after they were completed. In 1866 he became superintendent and mechanical engineer for the Union Metallic Cartridge Company, at Bridgeport, Connecticut In this position he patented many improvements in cartridge-making machinery and designed some of the best machine tools of the period. His ability in the manufacturing part of the business is said to have contributed as much to its success as the sales and organizing ability of the owners. Hobbs remained with the company until 1890, and died at Bridgeport, the following year.
Hobbs' most notable achievment was picking the Bramah and Chubb locks at the Great Exhibition of 1851. His ability to pick these locks changed how the world viewed the security of locks and safes, leading to the many improvements in the construction and design of locks throughout the 19th and 20th century. Hobbs also made many improvements in the field of ammunition manufacturing later in his life. In 1854 he was awarded a Telford Medal by the Institution of Civil Engineers for his paper "On the Principles and Construction of Locks. "
(to which is added a description of Mr.J. Beverley fenby's...)
While in England Hobbs became a member of the Society of Arts, and was elected an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
Hobbs married Charlotte F. Nye (1815) of Sandwich, Massachusetts, in 1835. They had four children: Charlotte, Alfred, Mary, and Arthur.
