Key Object Page

Knuckle Duster

A slightly unusual object from the museum collection this week; a knuckle-duster owned by Frederick Smith, a dentist from Chesterfield. This would have been carried by Smith as he travelled from his home in Chesterfield to his practice in Alfreton, a distance of around 25 miles, where he would travel by a horse drawn carriage. Smith, who practiced from the mid 1800’s to the early 1900’s, would have been at risk from robbery by highwaymen, so he would have kept this knuckle-duster with him for protection.