The Lock

[Blackkat]

Hi all, I've read all the previous posts on Mary Kelly's door lock. I've never seen one like that before, but I do have one on my back door and I don't know if it's the same or a newer version of what was on her door. I'd like to have a good mental picture of what it looked like. I'm including a picture of the lock on my door. If this isn't the same kind does anyone have a picture of what kind of lock she had?? Thanks.

[Chris Scott]

Hi BK
This site might be worth a look - it specialises in repro and reconditioned Victorian locks etc.

http://www.vintagehardware.com/home_hardware.cat.shtml

[Blackkat]

Thanks for the link - I don't really know what to look for
I have no idea what it would look like.

[Supe]

Blackkat,

If you did read all the posts on the lock then you are doubtless aware that while most everyone has a guess, no one knows what kind of lock(s) were on Kelley's door, nor are we likely ever to know. Short of the discoivery of a contemporary photograph or John McCarthy's ledger books, the lock(s) on the door will forever remain an area of conjecture.

Don.

[Tom_Wescott]

We know that McCarthy put padlocks on the doors of his rooms, but I would doubt that's what Mary had on hers while living there, unless she moved the padlock to the INSIDE of the door, to prevent tampering, which is quite possible.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[bolo]

Below is a link to a page of a hardware restoration store with nice pics of a Victorian spring lock "Easy Spring" by Sargent & Co:

http://www.eddonaldson.com/rimloc80.htm

This most probably is not the exact type of lock used for Mary's room but maybe it can give you a general idea on how these things looked like then.

[Blackkat]

Thank you thank you.. Um yeah I did read the other posts and guess what I was hoping someone else who may have known would say something. OR give their best guess as to what kind (how it looked) I wanted a better mental image.

Thank you for the links!

[RJM]

Thank you thank you.. Um yeah I did read the other posts and guess what I was hoping someone else who may have known would say something. OR give their best guess as to what kind (how it looked) I wanted a better mental image.

Thank you for the links!

Bob Hinton posted photos of a period spring lock here:
http://www.casebook.org/forum/messages/4921/6718.html
He has even more photos that he took, and even made a mock up, which he filmed.

There's plenty of discussion in the archive section and even more on the older boards if you buy a Casebook DVD/CD

Cheers,

Robert

[Bob Hinton]

Lock

I've just had a look at those pictures. They were posted five years ago.

[paul emmett]

We know that McCarthy put padlocks on the doors of his rooms, but I would doubt that's what Mary had on hers while living there, unless she moved the padlock to the INSIDE of the door, to prevent tampering, which is quite possible.

Hi, Tom. I found this comment interesting and perplexing, so I looked a bit, and found the 1901 newspaper article about Dorsett st. being the worst in London. which told how landlords took their rooms, just slapped on padlocks, threw a couple of sticks of furniture in, and rented them.

But If Kelly had a padlock on her door, wouldn't that be important in many ways, like the police breaking the door down, or JTR using the spring lock/broken window trick?

So I guess I'm still not sure what you are saying. Did McCarthy padlock the rooms when they were empty? Is your source the newspaper article I found?
Is the JACK McCarthy who speaks for the housing in this article MJK's John McCarthy? How are you?

[bolo]

According to The Facts, the windows of No. 13 were boarded up and the door padlocked right after Mary's remains were brought to the mortuary at 4 pm on 9 November. This was reported by press articles in The Times and Daily Telegraph on the next day. Begg does not mention who put the padlock on.

So far I haven't read about a padlock on the door to Mary's room while she was still alive, most books only mention the spring lock mechanism. Of course it's possible that McCarthy used padlocks for other doors of the rooms he let as they probably were cheaper and more appropriate for his business than spring rim locks.

[Blackkat]

Robert!! Thank you!!! Oh my gosh _ I wasn't aware of the 2003 posts. I only meant I had read the ones before the website crashed. This is great! Thanks!

Bob Hinton posted photos of a period spring lock here:
http://www.casebook.org/forum/messages/4921/6718.html
He has even more photos that he took, and even made a mock up, which he filmed.

There's plenty of discussion in the archive section and even more on the older boards if you buy a Casebook DVD/CD

Cheers,

Robert