IMPROVEMENTS IN PLASTERING WALLS AND CEILINGS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Allen Dixon, of Newport, Mon., Archi-
tect, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLASTERING WALLS AND
CEILINGS."
Sealed the 3rd October 1861, and dated the 17th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Allen Dixon
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th April 1861.
I, WILLIAM ALLEN DIXON, of Newport, Mon., Architect, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLASTERING WALLS AND
CEILINGS," to be as follows:-
Inasmuch as the present mode of plastering walls and ceilings requires that
a considerable time shall elapse between the application of the different coats
of plaster, my Invention obviates this loss of time by being put up in the form
of dry plates or laminæ, by nailing the same to the under side of the joists;
or in the case of walls to the quartering or studds, and after stopping the
same (with plaster) covering it with one coat of plaster, called the setting
coat, which may be of any of the ordinary kinds.
The plates or laminæ are prepared by mixing materials of a fibrous and
cementing nature together, and subjecting the same to pressure; and for this
purpose I employ gypsum, ashes, hemp, or cocoa-nut fibre and sawdust in
different proportions, according to the nature of the work, but I hereby claim
the use of suitable plates of a cementitions and fibrous nature, such plates
requiring only one coat of plaster, besides the stopping.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Allen Dixon in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th October 1861.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ALLEN DIXON, of Newport, Mon., Architect, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
- Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Allen Dixon, Her special licence that I, the said William
Allen Dixon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Allen Dixon, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PLASTERING WALLS AND CEILINGS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Allen Dixon, my executors, or
administrators, by an instrument in writing, under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Allen Dixon, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of an improved method of covering walls and ceilings
by means of plates composed of fibrous and plastic substances, such as gypsum,
ashes, manilla, hemp, or cocoa-nut fibre, sawdust, or any other suitable
materials, and mixed in the following manner:-I take, say, a quarter of a
ton of sawdust, about thirteen hundredweight of sifted ashes, and fourty pounds
of manilla, cut to convenient lengths; these materials are well incorporated
one with the other by being passed through a devil or other suitable crushing
and mixing apparatus, and when reduced to a proper consistency I add about
1 ton of plaster of Paris of commerce; a portion of this compound is then
mixed with a sufficient quantity of water or other liquid to render it into a

page_text: paste, which is put into moulds, and then pressed by means of suitable presses
in the usual way, and when dry are ready for use.
I claim the right of fixing these plates in any way that circumstances may
require, but the usual way of fixing them would be by nailing them to the
joists or partitions with zinc nails, or on the walls by means of quartering
designed to receive them. After having covered the walls or ceilings with
these plates, which are joined together by means of a mixture of plaster of
Paris and plasterers' putty, and after the same has become firmly set the walls
or ceilings may be finished off with the ordinary sand and run lin:e, or with
plaster of Paris and run lime, according to the quality and purpose of the
intended work. The ceilings may, after a few days, receive its usual coat of
whiting if necessary. By this means I am enabled to effect a great saving of
time in plastering walls and ceilings, as under the present system a considerable
time must elapse between the application of the different coats of plaster, in
consequence of the length of time required to enable it to become properly set
and dry.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, und in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not confine myself to the
precise shape, size, or material of which the same is to be made, or the precise
mode of fixing the same; but what I claim as my Invention, and desire to
secure by Letters Patent is, that by means of plates prepared by mixing
materials of a fibrous and cementing nature together, and subjecting the same
to pressure, as before described, I am enabled to produce plates of a dry and
solid material, which I propose to use for the purpose of covering walls and
ceilings, and which are adapted to receive one coat of plastering in the place
of the present system of plastering, thereby effecting a great saving in time
and expense.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Allen Dixon, have hereunto
WILLIAM ALLEN DIXON. (L.S.)
Witness,
SAMUEL COOPER GRIMES,
10, Park Square, Newport,
Mon.