Victorian Hiatt Irish 8 Handcuffs

Origin: English
Period: Victorian
Provenance: Vernon Cross Esq.
Date: c.1900
Width: 5 inches
Inner cuff diameters: 2 inches x 2.75 inches

The Irish 8 being a sought after cuff, this pair having a nice light patina and in full working order. The Darby spring-backed bolt with external threading is pulled out with the internally threaded screw key. These cuffs are so called as they form a figure of eight and were used primarily in Ireland. The stamps of HIATT and the numbers 3 and 204 are clearly marked.

The origins of Hiatt and Company Ltd. lie in the late eighteenth century, circa 1780, and made handcuffs, leg-irons, manacles and other devices to shackle humans for more than 200 years.

In 1818 Thomas Griffin Hiatt appears in the Wrightson Directory for the first time as a manufacturer of felon's irons and gate locks, located on Moor St. in Birmingham. Some time in the next few years Hiatt moved around the corner to 26 Masshouse Lane, where he manufactured felon's irons, gate lock, handcuffs, and horse and dog collars. The Hiatt Company remained at the 26 Masshouse Lane address, until the premises were destroyed by a World War II German bombing in 1941. The company shut its doors for the last time at its Birmingham workshops in 2008.

Hiatt handcuffs have now been re-branded under the Safariland name making this Hiatt restraint even more coveted.

This item was owned by Vernon Cross Esq. whose family ran a tea shop in Ely, Cambridgeshire and would exchange tea for interesting bygones.