Safe Makers, George Price's Safe, Lock & Engineering Company Ltd., Wolverhampton
- Ref No: P/4865
- Repository: Wolverhampton Archives & Local Studies
- Date: [Late 20th cent]
- Description: A print from a 1911 photograph of safe makers at work in the factory in Cleveland Street. Note that production was still being done at this stage.
- Admin History: In the early 1850s, George Price took over the works of fireproof metal case manufacturers Messrs. Richard Noakes and Son, of Cleveland Street, Wolverhampton. In 1854, he set up his first public demonstration of the fire-resistance of his safes. It failed. Some of the contents (particularly parchment) inside were burnt. As a result, Price worked on improving the effectiveness of his safes. He set about to convert Noakes' old workshop into a steam-powered manufactory. He finally came up with the idea of patenting an iron box to hold parchment documents inside his safes to protect them against fire. In 1856, he wrote and published a 1,000 page document entitled "Treatise On Fire And Thief-Proof Depositories And Locks And Keys which included diagrams and information on security systems, and was highly regarded amongst lock and safe makers. The Cleveland Street Works also began to specialise in building strong rooms in the basements of banks, aswell as producing a variety of specialist safes. In 1860, George's second treatise was published entitled "A Treatise on Gunpowder-Proof Locks, Gunpowder-Proof Lock-Chambers, Drill Proof Safes, &c, &c, &c" in an attempt to manufacture a safe that could withstand gunpowder explosions, after a youg boy was killed when a flying piece of material hit his head during another safe demonstration. In 1887, George died. The company was eventually taken by fellow lockmakers James Gibbons Ltd., in the 1930s.
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