74 • HISTORY&HERITAGE
Shackles, Legions
and Handcuffs
» » LOCKSMITHS, IN THEIR DAY-TO-DAY
work; rarely see the restraint locks of the
authorities. Today, apart from police, and
law and order authorities, escapologists
are the main users of this class of lock.
Many escapologists, in addition to the
special items that feature in their act,
have collections that tell the story of that
special class of locking devices that lock
up his fellow man.
Modern restraints are used legitimately
in a correctional context, but that
wasn’t always the case. There was
a time when men were ‘owned’ and
there was considerable ‘trade’ in the
acquisition of ‘stock’. The slave trade is
well documented elsewhere and makes
for difficult and distressing reading to
today’s mind;
so here we
Two styles of simple hinged hoop
shackles secured with a padlock
or several could be linked with a
continuous chain. These were produced
in sizes to suit both wrists and ankles.
An 17th/18th century padlock with 4
spring barbs. The key compresses the
barbs allowing the removal of the locking
pin to which they are attached, once
removed the shackle can be swung up.
examine one of the tools of that trade
taken out of context and only lightly
eluding to the back stories – the
shackles of man.
Like all locking devices shackles
are very ancient and emerge with
civilisations. There are references
in ancient texts including the bible.
Invariably loops of iron either wrist, ankle
or neck size were connected with chains
of whatever length for the purpose
and secured with a padlock which
was typically of the spring barb type.
Shackles for galley slaves for instance
were a simple hinged hasp, one end
formed with a loop through which a chain
was passed linking all oarsmen together
at their stations with one padlock.
Vincent Eras in his work about the
Lips Collection ‘Locks
and Keys Throughout
the Ages’ comments
Two sizes of adjustable restraints, the oversize butterfly would be wound down to a
snug fit and secured with a padlock. The large size for wrists and the smaller for thumbs.
LOCKSMITHJOURNAL.CO.UK | SEP/OCT 2018
An iron slave chain and spring
barb padlock. Fig. 37 from Eras’
book ‘Locks and Keys Throughout
the Ages’ (Dutch edition).
“Déchelette (Joseph Déchelette, French
Archaeologist, 1866-1914) refers to
‘Entraves’ (French meaning shackles)
the so-called shackles or fetters and
slave chains, operated by padlocks,
also used for galley slaves. The chain
with which St Paul was fettered and led
through Rome, by a Roman soldier, has
been pictured in National Geographic
Magazine [Vol. CX No. Six of December
1956 page 157].
Gradually and with the changing or
evolving of moral attitudes the trade
in slaves diminished, but society still
demanded custodial items and so
the device also evolved both in terms
of manufacture and in its inherent
functions.
A pair of neck shackles hinged and
secured with an integral screw key lock.
The internal shackle diameter on this
set is 135mm. It was sometimes normal
practice to not only apply handcuffs but
also to transport prisoners in pairs.