A NEW METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AND IMPROVING HOSIERY AND VARIOUS OTHER ARTICLES POR CLOATHING AND COVERINGS, A THING NEVER BEFORE PUT IN PRACTISE AND WHICH WOULD BE OF GREAT PUBLIC BENEFIT AND UTILITY
Year: 1792

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, GEORGE
HOLLAND, of the Parish of Saint Andrew, Holborn above Bars, in the County of
Middlesex, Frame Work Knitter, sends greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King George the Third, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Twenty-fourth day of July now last past, and in the thirty-second year of
His reign, after reciting that the said George Holland had, by his. Petition,
humbly represented that, by much study and application, he had he had invented
and found out "A NEW METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AND IMPROVING HOSIERY AND
VARIOUS OTHER ARTICLES POR CLOATHING AND COVERINGS, A THING NEVER BEFORE PUT
IN PRACTISE AND WHICH WOULD BE OF GREAT PUBLIC BENEFIT AND UTILITY;" did for
Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto the said George
Holland, his executors, administrators, and assigns, His special license, full
power, sole priviledge and authority, that he, the said George Holland, his
executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them, by himself and
themselves, or by his or their deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such
others as the said George Holland, his executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend his said Invention, within that part of the
Kingdom of Great Britain called England, the Dominion of Wales, and Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in such manner as to the said George Holland, his
executors, administrators, and assigns, or any of them, should in his or their
discretions seem meet; and that the said George Holland, his executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, should and lawfully might have and enjoy the whole

page_text: profit, benefit, commodity, and advantage from time to time coming, growing,
accruing, and arising by reason of the said Invention, for and during the term
of years therein mentioned, to have, hold, exercise, and enjoy the said licence,
powers, privileges and advantages unto the said George Holland, his executors,
administrators, and assigns, for and during the term of fourteen years from the
date of the said Letters Patent according to the Statute in that case made and
provided; and it is by the said Letters Patent among other things provided,
that if the said George Holland should not particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of his said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under his hand and seal, and cause
the same to be inrolled in the High Court of Chancery within one calendar
month next after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said
Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted,
should cease and be void, as by the said in part recited Letters Patent may appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that the said George Holland doth by this present
Instrument in writing under his hand and seal, by him duly executed and
intended to be inrolled as aforesaid, testify, declare, and describe the nature of
his said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be as
follows (that is to say) :-
._
The mode of manufacturing and improving hosiery, flannel, cotton,
linen, silk, and all kinds of woollen cloths and stuffs, and also all other
articles of cloathing and coverings made of woollen, flax, hemp, hair, cotton,
silk, or fur, or mixtures of any two or more of them, is by coating, covering,
and uniting with them bever's fur, coney's wool, hare's woo', sheep's wool,
mohair, or the wool, fur, hair, or down of any animal, or any two or more of
them mixed together, or any one or more of the above articles mixed with silk,
cotton, or any vegatable production used for the manufacture of cloathing, and
is performed as follows:-Take bever's fur, or any one or more of the above
unwrought materials, about two ounces more or less, for every yard square of
the hosiery, flannel, or other articles to be improved. If any of the unwrought
materials are more than an inch long, they must be reduced to about that
length by being cut. Then break or divide them with a feltmaker's bow, upon
a feltmaker's wire hurdle, in order to clear them from scabs, course hairs and
dirt, then take the hosiery, flannel, or other article to be improved, and spread
it upon a wooden hurdle similar to those used by feltmakers. Then take the
bever's fur, or any one or more of the above-mentioned unwrought materials
prepared as above, and bow it with a feltmaker's bow upon the hosiery, flannel,
or other article to be improved, covering it wholly over as nearly as may be of
an equal thickness; or instead of bowing, sift the bever's fur, or any of the
above-mentioned unwrought materials, upon the hosiery, flannel, or other article

page_text: to be improved, or take any of the above-mentioned unwrought materials carded
into flat cardings, and lay them as nearly as may be of an equal thickness upon
the hosiery, flannel, or any other of the above-mentioned articles to be improved,
then press down the bever's fur or other unwrought material with the hand or
feltmaker's baskett, and cover it with damp cartridge or other strong paper, and
upon the paper lay a feltmaker's hardening skin or leather, and press upon
it with the stand, with a kind of tremulous motion, repeating this pressure
upon every part of the skin or leather, which will in a small degree unite the
bever's fur or other unwrought material with the hosiery, flannel, or other
article to be improved; then take off the hardening skin, and cover the damp
paper with a damp hempen or flaxen cloth, similar to that used by feltmakers,
and called a basoning cloth, then take up the whole and turn it over, and fold
it up together in the manner and shape that napkins are folded, and having laid it
upon a flat iron plate moderately heated and sprinkled over with water, press
forcibly upon the whole surface with the hands, in the manner above described,
frequently turning it over, and as often repeating the operation of pressing upon
it with the hands. As the moisture will be constantly exhaling, it will be
necessary to unfold it occasionally, and sprinkle water upon the cloth and upon
the iron plate as at first, and then folding the whole up as before described,
only observing to make the folds in fresh places; lay it upon the hot plate, and
repeat the operation of pressing it with the hands as before; continue these
operations for about a quarter of an hour, in which time the steam arising from
the heated plate, and from the damp cloth, together with the pressure of the
hands, will have united the bever's fur or other unwrought material to the
hosiery, flannel, or any other of the above-mentioned articles to be improved,
sufficiently to bear the following operation having a thick board of a conve-
nient length and breadth, place it in a sloping direction to an angle of about
forty degrees from a horizontal line, fix the lower edge of this board to
the side of a boiler; in this boiler put water and oil of vitroil or water,
and the dregs of beer, wine, or other liquors, in the proportion of about
a quarter of a pound of oil of vitriol or two quarts of dregs to eight gallons
of water, and heat this compound liquid nearly to boiling heat, then take away
the cartridge paper and hempen or flaxen cloth from the improving article,
and instead thereof take a hair cloth and lay it upon the coated side of the
improving article, and folding the whole up soak it well in the above-mentioned
heated liquid, then take it out and roll it up close together, and laying the
palms of the hands upon it roll it up and down upon the inclined board, pressing
gently upon it at first, and and increasing the pressure as the improving article
will bear it. When it will bear to be worked without the hair cloth, take the
hair cloth away, and continue the operations of dipping it in the hot liquid and

page_text: rolling it with the hands till such time as the bever's fur or other unwrought
material, and the hosiery, flannel, or other article to be improved are firmly
and sufficiently united together; or having worked it upon the inclined board
in the manner above described for about a quarter of an hour, take it to a
fulling mill and mill it till it is firmly and sufficiently united together, then
finish it by brushing the nap with a damp brush to lay it in one direction, and
fix it so by ironing it in the same direction with a heated iron, such as is used
for finishing hats, or it may be finished by teazling, shearing, and hot pressing,
in the usual way of finishing woollen cloth. Afterwards it may be dyed or
printed. If the article to be improved requires to be coated on both sides, it
may be taken when it has been coated on one side and has gone through
all the operations, preparatory to working it upon the sloping board with the
heated liquid, and coated on the other side, going through the same operations
and finishing it. as above described. It may be necessary to observe, that silk,
cotton, and vegatable substances will not unite so firmly to hosiery, flannel, or
other articles, without a mixture of fur or other animal production.
In witness whereof, the said George Holland hath hereunto set and put
his hand and seal, this. Twenty-third day of August, in the year of our
Lord Christ One thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, and in the
said thirty-second year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George
the Third, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of
the Faith, and so forth.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-third day of August, in
the year of our Lord 1792, the aforesaid George Holland came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according to
the tenor of the Statutes made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-third day of August, in the year of our Lord One