Wondering if anyone knows anymore on the maker Henry Fear. I've re-discovered a small climax detector with an original E.Cotterill key, with the case marked Fear as maker. A bit of searching trawls up a few of Cotterill's padlocks mostly ACME patents also marked Fear- but it's not a name I'd ever heard of.

I'd always assumed Cotterill's manufactured all their patent stuff themselves, and in the unlikely scenario they contracted out would have betted on one of the larger well known manufacturers, given the high levels of spec and precision involved.

My first port of call was of course....here! But it seems there's been no previous mention, so went on to the gazetteer of lock & key makers then grace's guide etc, but found no mention of Henry Fear at all.

Only info I've dug up is from a couple of history articles on the Birmingham jewellery quarter which stated he'd occupied one of the jewellers units at 16 Vittoria st.
He was originally from Briton Ferry, a very small town here in Wales which is only 40 miles from me, but he seemed to move around frequently and wasn't in Birmingham long.
His four children were all born in Stourbridge and by 1876 he'd moved to Aston.
He was supposedly at 16 Vittoria st Birmingham in 1870/71, but dates are a little vague as another jeweller is noted as taking over his premises by an 1871 census.

For someone who clearly had some serious skills and manufacturing capability (to make top spec patent locks for Edwin Cotterill), its incredible how he could be forgotten with so little on record. Welshman too ;-)