'I found highly-valuable ornate antique padlocks in my 18th century South Staffordshire home'

A handyman who inherited an 18th century house was left stunned after unearthing a treasure trove of antique padlocks worth thousands of pounds.

Michael Hamson, 79, stumbled across the historical hoard after he unexpectedly came into ownership of the property in Brewood, South Staffordshire, when the former owner died.

The grandfather-of-three had spent decades doing odd jobs for Mary Eileen Jones until she died aged 93 and the house and its contents formed part of a surprise inheritance.

While clearing out the property, he was gobsmacked to find hundreds of padlocks, all dating from the 1800s, and made by a company founded by one of Ms Jones' ancestors.

The 200-strong collection was found stashed away throughout the sprawling house in wooden crates, hidden behind a wooden panel under the stairs and also in the garage.

The locks, which are designed for securing everything from prisons, castles, churches and trains, are now set to fetch thousands of pounds at auction.

Dad-of-two Michael, of Coven, said: "When we first viewed the house, it was in quite a state and we found this wooden crate all nailed together. It was covered in junk and when I wheeled it out, we found it had quite a lot of locks in.

"We also noticed a loose panel under the stairs where we found another boatload of stashed locks.

"Then there were some in the garage and others under the stairs - there were blooming hundreds of them, we couldn't believe it."

They are all hallmarked with branding for E. Jones & Sons, a company founded by local entrepreneur Enoch Jones in 1895 in Willenhall.

Considered a master locksmith in the industry, he was the great-grandfather of Ms Jones and the business stayed in the family until her father Thomas sold it.

Customers included the HM Prison service, GPO, the LMS Railway, and the state-owned railway company of Argentina.

Michael added: "These locks all date back to the 1800s and 1900s and are from all over the world - it was just so fascinating to uncover them.

"They are mainly brass and bronze, some are from Argentina, others were used for the North Peninsular Railway in India, others more locally.

"We just never realised they could be worth so much."

Michael became friends with Ms Jones back in the 1960s after being asked to help mow the lawn of her one-acre garden.

He added: "My friend was a plumber and got to know Mary and asked me to help him mow her lawn back in the '60s.

"From there I just ended up doing odd jobs for her over the next 40-odd years right up until she passed away in her 90s.

"My wife and I ended up pretty much becoming her carer and we'd cook for her and look after her because she had no surviving family.

"But I never once thought she would leave me all this and we had no idea about the padlocks until we began clearing out her house.

"We don't even know if Mary knew about them, I imagine her father just brought them to the family home once he sold the company.

"He must have been too attached to let everything go, so it all came to the house."

Will Farmer, Antiques Roadshow expert and director of Fieldings Auctioneers, was called in to appraise the collection.

He said the rare discovery could prove to be valuable both as an historical reference but also financially.

He added: "The fact these locks have been held for posterity in this old house to be discovered today is just such an incredible find.

"The collection represents a slice of history from one of the region's most celebrated industries, once known around the world for its quality and expertise.

"Together with a huge array of padlocks are a selection of the company's original marketing material, purchase and sales ledgers, company warrants and signs - collectively a snapshot in time."

Amongst the highlights of the collection is a unique presentation padlock which was created by Enoch Jones & Sons for the 1902 Wolverhampton Exhibition. 

It boasts over 50,000 different combinations and comes complete with an ornately decorated key. It is estimated alone at £500 to £800.

The entire collection is set to fetch between £4,000 to £6,000 when it goes under the hammer at Fieldings in Stourbridge, this Friday (May 16).