Seeking your expert comments

I acquired a 6' hand forged chain from my father when he died. The links are about 2.5cm high and about 4mm thick. It is indeed hand forged. Pretty easy to see this. There are file marks on all the links. There is one irregular slightly larger link. There are 5.5cm rings attached at the top and bottom, with two smaller loose chains in between. My father acquired the chain from a close friend who I'm guessing was born in the later 1800's and died in the late 1970's, and who acquired the chain from an older relative who worked in Scotland Yard in England. This is the story my father told me. He also told me that it is a chain used for chaining prisoners together. My father worked with metal as a saw filer all his life and did some metal forging himself for horseshoes and other items. My point being, he could appreciate and admire the workmanship in this chain and its history. Unfortunately, I can'tremember the stories and am wondering if anyone knows what the history of this chain might be.

There is a brass lock attached to one end with 999 on it. There is no key. I'm not sure if the lock was an original part of the chain, or if it was added later.

Any thoughts would be welcomed.

Thank you,
Debbie

Debbie,

They say: a picture is worth a thousand words. I believe "they" are right in this case.
I also believe that identifying the purpose of your chain will prove to be very difficult. A piece of chain used on the farm, at sea, or in a prison would be very hard to specify its use unless it has a specialty link somewhere on it or other feature.

I can tell you that if the chain is believed to be British, then the padlock was not intended to be used with the hain. The 999 padlock is the larger version of the 99 padlock made by Miller Lock Company, in the U.S. It is a desireable lock especially if it comes with a key. They are a Scandinavian style lock,, very handsome, and made very well. The lock is worth $35 to 65 depending on whether it has a key or not.

Hope this helps

mark
O--O

I acquired a 6' hand forged chain from my father when he died. The links are about 2.5cm high and about 4mm thick. It is indeed hand forged. Pretty easy to see this. There are file marks on all the links. There is one irregular slightly larger link. There are 5.5cm rings attached at the top and bottom, with two smaller loose chains in between. My father acquired the chain from a close friend who I'm guessing was born in the later 1800's and died in the late 1970's, and who acquired the chain from an older relative who worked in Scotland Yard in England. This is the story my father told me. He also told me that it is a chain used for chaining prisoners together. My father worked with metal as a saw filer all his life and did some metal forging himself for horseshoes and other items. My point being, he could appreciate and admire the workmanship in this chain and its history. Unfortunately, I can'tremember the stories and am wondering if anyone knows what the history of this chain might be.

There is a brass lock attached to one end with 999 on it. There is no key. I'm not sure if the lock was an original part of the chain, or if it was added later.

Any thoughts would be welcomed.

Thank you,
Debbie

Click to expand...

Debbie, there were a few configurations commonly used in the old days in Australia, but I guess it depended on what was available.

One type of Gang Chain ran through the middle ring of riveted leg irons, so you could have as many prisoners as you could get onto whatever length of chain you had. An End Stop was at one end and a padlock at the other.

Another type was a shape like two HH joined together. So you had a central long chain with 3 shorter chains each side.
At the end of each short chain was a ring, possibly 5.5 cm, through which you passed one side of an open handcuff. The ring would therefore be between the two sides of the handcuff, on the chain or swivel. You then had 6 prisoners joined together who could walk in pairs. These used D shackle or "Darby" style handcuffs but other types would also work.

I guess the variations of chains will depend on what country, what handcuffs and whatever time period.

I picture would be good. I'm guessing it is a blacksmith made Twisted or Curb chain with joins at the end of each link, not welded at the side of the link.

Paul