Passing away of Maurice Stewart

Heard some sad news yesterday that Maurice (Jim) Stewart died last week-end. I first met him back in 1973 following my head-line news in the local paper when I ended up in Hospital after an escape went wrong.
He contacted me as he was writing a book on Houdini, his enthusism for the subject spurred me on. The last chapter of the book was to be on 'escape proof situations'. Certainly his copy of the John Bull Straight jacket proved the point.
Two years latter we formed the partnership of 'Fetters' and when I moved out of London I sold my share to him.
Although in latter years he was fairly quite regarding handcuffs and escapes, I know many of you will have fond memories of corresponding with him and the free advice he was always willing to give.
You will be missed Maurice. RIP.

Chris Gower

I never met Jim, however the correspondence I had with him in trying to identify an escape artist was quite helpful although the person was not identified.

I told him about this Forum and he did correspond with many readers and friends he lost contact with over the years.

Thanks Chris for passing on this sad information.

Ron

Heard some sad news yesterday that Maurice (Jim) Stewart died last week-end. I first met him back in 1973 following my head-line news in the local paper when I ended up in Hospital after an escape went wrong.
He contacted me as he was writing a book on Houdini, his enthusism for the subject spurred me on. The last chapter of the book was to be on 'escape proof situations'. Certainly his copy of the John Bull Straight jacket proved the point.
Two years latter we formed the partnership of 'Fetters' and when I moved out of London I sold my share to him.
Although in latter years he was fairly quite regarding handcuffs and escapes, I know many of you will have fond memories of corresponding with him and the free advice he was always willing to give.
You will be missed Maurice. RIP.

Chris Gower

Click to expand...

I'm really sad to learn about Jim. He was a very nice gentleman, with lots of great stories. Thanks for the information, Chris. If you get any more details would you let me know?

Heard some sad news yesterday that Maurice (Jim) Stewart died last week-end. I first met him back in 1973 following my head-line news in the local paper when I ended up in Hospital after an escape went wrong.
He contacted me as he was writing a book on Houdini, his enthusism for the subject spurred me on. The last chapter of the book was to be on 'escape proof situations'. Certainly his copy of the John Bull Straight jacket proved the point.
Two years latter we formed the partnership of 'Fetters' and when I moved out of London I sold my share to him.
Although in latter years he was fairly quite regarding handcuffs and escapes, I know many of you will have fond memories of corresponding with him and the free advice he was always willing to give.
You will be missed Maurice. RIP.

Chris Gower

Click to expand...

Well said Chris. You introduced me to Maurice around 30 years ago and I've kept in touch with him ever since, he died last weekend. I understand that he'd been admitted to hospital, diagnosed with throat cancer and transferred to a hospice where he died - as he'd wished - peacefully and with dignity.

Mike Riccard
a.k.a. Mikeintightpants
Centre of England

Heard some sad news yesterday that Maurice (Jim) Stewart died last week-end. I first met him back in 1973 following my head-line news in the local paper when I ended up in Hospital after an escape went wrong.
He contacted me as he was writing a book on Houdini, his enthusism for the subject spurred me on. The last chapter of the book was to be on 'escape proof situations'. Certainly his copy of the John Bull Straight jacket proved the point.
Two years latter we formed the partnership of 'Fetters' and when I moved out of London I sold my share to him.
Although in latter years he was fairly quite regarding handcuffs and escapes, I know many of you will have fond memories of corresponding with him and the free advice he was always willing to give.
You will be missed Maurice. RIP.

Chris Gower

Click to expand...

I had many pleasant dealings with Maurice(Jim) Stewart over the years. I have several of his jackets including one of his John Bull jackets. Although I only knew him via the mail in the early days and email in the later days he was always informative and kind.

He will be missed by many.

JOe

Heard some sad news yesterday that Maurice (Jim) Stewart died last week-end. I first met him back in 1973 following my head-line news in the local paper when I ended up in Hospital after an escape went wrong.
He contacted me as he was writing a book on Houdini, his enthusism for the subject spurred me on. The last chapter of the book was to be on 'escape proof situations'. Certainly his copy of the John Bull Straight jacket proved the point.
Two years latter we formed the partnership of 'Fetters' and when I moved out of London I sold my share to him.
Although in latter years he was fairly quite regarding handcuffs and escapes, I know many of you will have fond memories of corresponding with him and the free advice he was always willing to give.
You will be missed Maurice. RIP.

Chris Gower

Click to expand...

I was just thinking about Jim Stewart again. I'll miss him.

One of my favorite Jim Stewart stories has to do with Harry LaTrobe. LaTrobe, at that time, was Chairman of Hiatt and he and Jim were old friends. One day LaTrobe came by Jim's house, very excited. He pulled out a prototype set of handcuffs, which were ultimately to be produced as the Hiatt Mod. 1960.

Harry LaTrobe went on and on about what a revolutionary design this was. How streamlined. How distinctive. A new British product to compete on the international market with the omnipresent American handcuffs. A revolutionary new lock design, a new key configuration, to make them the most secure handcuffs on the market, etc., etc.

As LaTrobe blathered on, Jim turned the handcuffs over in his hands, examining them thoroughly, and finally focused on the keyhole. Jim got up and found a Bic pen, and with his thumbnail flicked off the little plastic plug at the rear end of the pen barrel. He returned to the table where LaTrobe was sitting, picked up the new handcuffs, and jammed the shaft of the pen into the keyhole. Jim turned the pen and the cuffs swung open.

There was utter silence. Jim looked over and saw that LaTrobe was just staring, unbelieving, with his mouth gaping open. LaTrobe didn't say a word. He grabbed his handcuffs, left Jim's house, and didn't speak to Jim for two years.

Heard some sad news yesterday that Maurice (Jim) Stewart died last week-end. I first met him back in 1973 following my head-line news in the local paper when I ended up in Hospital after an escape went wrong.
He contacted me as he was writing a book on Houdini, his enthusism for the subject spurred me on. The last chapter of the book was to be on 'escape proof situations'. Certainly his copy of the John Bull Straight jacket proved the point.
Two years latter we formed the partnership of 'Fetters' and when I moved out of London I sold my share to him.
Although in latter years he was fairly quite regarding handcuffs and escapes, I know many of you will have fond memories of corresponding with him and the free advice he was always willing to give.
You will be missed Maurice. RIP.

Chris Gower

Click to expand...

For several years(back in the 90's) I had heard about Mr. Stewart and his nickname Mr. Fetters and I even have a copy of sales flyer from the 70's for Fetters. It was in the fall of '97 I met him at a convention that I was a staff person and one of those evenings we've must have talked for over an hour down in the lobby. Without a doubt, he was a gentleman in every regard. The next day he gave me a signed copy of one his books. In the past several years we on occasion exchanged emails after his name came up on this forum. It was also the same convention I met Tom Gross who I also had heard about from a friend(Ann) at the time. None of us are getting younger and with the advent of the internet and digital storage mediums available today, if we are to preserve the history of individuals such as Mr. Stewart, we need to do it now. Some sort of database of information needs to be created before we lose even more knowledge.

-Dorson

I was just thinking about Jim Stewart again. I'll miss him.

One of my favorite Jim Stewart stories has to do with Harry LaTrobe. LaTrobe, at that time, was Chairman of Hiatt and he and Jim were old friends. One day LaTrobe came by Jim's house, very excited. He pulled out a prototype set of handcuffs, which were ultimately to be produced as the Hiatt Mod. 1960.

Harry LaTrobe went on and on about what a revolutionary design this was. How streamlined. How distinctive. A new British product to compete on the international market with the omnipresent American handcuffs. A revolutionary new lock design, a new key configuration, to make them the most secure handcuffs on the market, etc., etc.

As LaTrobe blathered on, Jim turned the handcuffs over in his hands, examining them thoroughly, and finally focused on the keyhole. Jim got up and found a Bic pen, and with his thumbnail flicked off the little plastic plug at the rear end of the pen barrel. He returned to the table where LaTrobe was sitting, picked up the new handcuffs, and jammed the shaft of the pen into the keyhole. Jim turned the pen and the cuffs swung open.

There was utter silence. Jim looked over and saw that LaTrobe was just staring, unbelieving, with his mouth gaping open. LaTrobe didn't say a word. He grabbed his handcuffs, left Jim's house, and didn't speak to Jim for two years.

Click to expand...

Hi Tomm think i may have meet once, I shall be going to the cremation today just about to leave and will say a few words of my own for all of those that new him but could not be there, I also agree that some thing needs to be done fairly smartish to preserve a lot of what this wonderfull man did.

Max Jacket or Steve.

Heard some sad news yesterday that Maurice (Jim) Stewart died last week-end. I first met him back in 1973 following my head-line news in the local paper when I ended up in Hospital after an escape went wrong.
He contacted me as he was writing a book on Houdini, his enthusism for the subject spurred me on. The last chapter of the book was to be on 'escape proof situations'. Certainly his copy of the John Bull Straight jacket proved the point.
Two years latter we formed the partnership of 'Fetters' and when I moved out of London I sold my share to him.
Although in latter years he was fairly quite regarding handcuffs and escapes, I know many of you will have fond memories of corresponding with him and the free advice he was always willing to give.
You will be missed Maurice. RIP.

Chris Gower

Click to expand...

Hello all - just a few words to those who have posted their very kind observations about Maurice. Jim (as I knew him ) was my Uncle and as you who knew him or ever met him know, was a lovely, polite, people person and a quietly spoken gentleman who would endeavour to help anyone asking for his advice or help. He was much regarded and loved by his extensive extended family.

I'm sure he would not mind me keeping you updated as to his final few days. He was diagnosed as having cancer late last year, although he had had it for some time undiagnosed. This meant that it was too late for the medics to work their magic. He spent his final few weeks in a lovely Hospice in Brighton being well cared for and still greeting visitors with a smile and interesting or funny stories.

He continued to work on Fetters and other projects he had on the go, right up to the end on 01/04/12. He even orchestrated and planned his Swan song, a celebration of his 3 separate lives. Family, Theatre/Musicals & Fetters. At a Theatrical Centre in Covent Garden, London there was food, wine, LOTS of conversation involving memories of him and live performances from 'old' friends performing pieces of Old Music Hall, Gilbert & Sullivan and a comedy Recital, along with a short video interview he once did.

He lead a varied an interesting life and touched the life of many people in many different ways. We will all miss him....and...

He was 'in charge' up to and after 'The End'