Vintage Squire Padlock and Key

I had no idea that Squire was such an established company. I'd not heard of them before and only once I started digging did I realize the extent of this remarkable company's influence and history.
The history begins in the mid-18th century, when William Squire of Willenhall, England started producing locks at a time when locks were a new and unknown technology. He began with furniture and door locks. His son continued the tradition and, in 1780, was responsible for the founding of the family company. They were exceedingly successful and even supplied the British Army with locks for the Napoleonic Wars. Their influence and sales continued through the ages, being a key supplier of locks to the free world all the way through to the 1900s. In 2002, amazingly, the EIGHTH generation of Squires was named the managing director of the company. This is simply amazing - through 3 centuries of wars, bombing, factory fires and trade setbacks, the company is still here and thriving under the family name. Truly an admirable feat.
The lock is in very good condition. Yes, there are some surface blemishes, but nothing major. The mechanism works perfectly and locks solidly. The number on the lock - 809 - left me slightly perplexed. The number is also found on the key, leading me to believe it was simply an identification method to identify which key fit which lock. The patent number - 22138 - seems to refer to the shape of this particular design. It was introduced some time in the 1950s and continued through the 1970s. At that time, however, German manufacturers were catching up and creating some excellent consumer-level locks, so Squire started concentrating on more heavy-duty, industrialized models that secured their market influence for decades to come.

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