author
A. C. Hobbs
1812–1891
Best known for proving that famous “unpickable” locks could be opened, this inventive 19th-century locksmith turned practical experience into influential books on locks and safes. His work helped shape modern thinking about lock design and security.
1 Audiobook
Rudimentary Treatise on the Construction of Locks
by A. C. Hobbs, George Dodd
About the author
Born in 1812 in the Boston area, Alfred Charles Hobbs was an American locksmith, inventor, and writer whose name became widely known after his dramatic lock-opening demonstrations in the mid-1800s. At the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, he gained lasting attention by opening high-profile British locks that had been advertised as exceptionally secure.
Hobbs later built a business in Britain and wrote technical works including Rudimentary Treatise on the Construction of Locks and The Construction of Locks and Safes. These books helped explain how locks actually worked, why some designs failed, and what better security required.
He died in 1891 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Today he is remembered not just as a skilled lockpicker, but as a sharp critic of weak security claims and an important figure in the history of locksmithing.