Lock Filer

[Jamys]

Hello All

I have a baptism entry for St. Martin Bham and the profession of father is given as "Lock filer".

If this is the person I hope it is, he was in the gun trade, and was described as a "Pistol filer" on his daughter's marriage cert.

So I'm not barking up the wrong tree, could a "lock filer" be involved in something else - like make locks!?

Was there a specific company making door locks in Birmingham early 1800's?

Regards
Jamys

[oldtimer]

Hi!

Guns have locks!! He was probably filing those !
Oldtimer!!

[stanmapstone]

In 1851 there were 2867 workers in the Birmingham gun trade. This had grown to about 6000 by 1860 and by 1865 nearly ten thousand workers were employed in the gun trade. Kelly's directory for 1874 lists 329 names connected with the gun trade in Birmingham,
http://madeinbirmingham.org/gun.htm

Stan

[Jamys]

Hello Oldtimer

Yes, but was the term "lock filer" used outside of the gun trade?

Hello Stan

Thanks for the link, I'm collecting lots of bits & pieces about Bham's gun trade and it all helps to get closer to my ancestor.

Cheers
Jamys

[stanmapstone]

Apparently the occupational term is an Action Freer, Gun Lock Freer, Lock Freer, who adjusted a guns lock actions after they had been fitted by an action fitter, filing them, where necessary with a very fine smoothing file. 
As a filer was the general term for a man who dressed metal articles that had been cast, forged, pressed, stamped, wrought etc.,in order to remove rough edges, then they would probably have been employed in the manufacture of locks, but whether they would be specifically called a 'lock filer' is open to question .


Stan

[oldtimer]

Hi

In this link about a Wolverhampton gun maker, there is a section about  locks, and a mention of a lock filer.

http://www.josephbrazier.com/history.html

[Jamys]

Hello Stan and Oldtimer

George Adams was a "lock filer" on his daughters baptism in 1828 but a "pistol filer" on her marriage cert in 1846.....that is if I have the same family in 1828 and 1846!!

How likely is it that a lock filer could become a pistol filer?  If the gun trade was as busy as would appear then men with experience in metal may well have been able to make this type of change.

Thankyou both for your time, effort and info, it's much appreciated.

Regards
Jamys

[truebritmega]

It is a term within the gun trade, my family were the Brazier family that oldtimer mentioned with the josephbrazier.com link and many of them were gun filers

[behindthefrogs]

Hello Stan and Oldtimer

George Adams was a "lock filer" on his daughters baptism in 1828 but a "pistol filer" on her marriage cert in 1846.....that is if I have the same family in 1828 and 1846!!

How likely is it that a lock filer could become a pistol filer?  If the gun trade was as busy as would appear then men with experience in metal may well have been able to make this type of change.

Thankyou both for your time, effort and info, it's much appreciated.

Regards
Jamys

I don't understand your query.  A pistol is a type of gun and even if you see a distinction the mechanisms would have been very similar.  They were manufatured by the same companies and so the distinction is no more than what he said to the enumerator in two censuses.

David