Posted 2 months ago
IronLace
(1006 items)
Here is something different from my usual posts of glass - an old brass padlock found while digging in my garden!
Just over a month ago, I was working on a new garden bed in a spot where there’d only been lawn. Turning over the soil to get it ready for the plants, l was surprised to find this old padlock. When it emerged from the soil it was barely recognisable. Clearing the dirt off quickly, I could see a marking that read N.S.W G R - I’m not a major railways buff, but I knew it stood for New South Wales Government Railways.
After finishing off the new garden bed (see third & fourth photos of five deciduous azaleas installed) I cleaned up the lock bit by bit over a few days (yes, it was that grungy)
I found one like it on eBay AU, which gave me this information- the padlock was made by the firm of Francis Jackson, founded in 1883 in Launceston, Tasmania.
This type of brass padlock was heavily utilised by railways around Australia. The N.S.W G R was renamed the Department of Railways NSW in 1932, which dates this padlock to before that change. How it ended up buried in my yard will forever remain a mystery, though it is only a 10 minute walk to the railway station. Perhaps a railway worker lived in my house back in those days (the house dates to the 1920s).
I was really quite thrilled to find it, an interesting piece of local history. And also not the only find while gardening…in 2021 I dug up a 1921 penny while pulling up weeds. But most of the time when I dig a hole to plant something I find rocks!









Awesome find! I love old locks. Great piece of history.
Neat find, cool story.
Great Read and Great Find & Pix too !!!
Many thanks, dav2no1!
Thanks also, kev123!
Much appreciated, Kevin!
great find and love the flowers in the Garden :)
Many thanks, Bernard!
What a lucky find!
Much appreciated, Scott!
All I find is broken pottery!