NEW-INVENTED METHOD OF PLATING GOLD UPON SILVER-PLATED METAL WIRE, AND OF DRAWING SUCH WIRE, WHEN PLATED WITH GOLD, INTO WIRE OF VERY FINE SIZES, BOTH ROUND, FLAT, AND SQUARE, AND OF DRAWING THE SAME SO FINE AS TO MAKE THREAD, LACE, FRINGE, AND TINSEL AND BE AS USEFUL IN VARIOUS BRANCHES OF BUSINESS AND MANUFACTORIES AS REAL GOLD WIRE THREAD, LACE, FRINGE, AND TINSEL, AND A GREAT SAVING AND BENEFIT TO HIS MAJESTY'S SUBJECTS
Year: 1768

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
WHATELEY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Plater of Silver,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Пis most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by His
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Sixth day of December, in the ninth year of Ilis reign.
did give and grant unto me, the said George Whateley, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole priveledge and
authority, that I, the said George Whateley, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term of fourteen years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and His Majesty's Colonys and Plantations in
America, my "NEW-INVENTED METHOD OF PLATING GOLD UPON SILVER-PLATED
METAL WIRE, AND OF DRAWING SUCH WIRE, WHEN PLATED WITH GOLD, INTO WIRE
OF VERY FINE SIZES, BOTH ROUND, FLAT, AND SQUARE, AND OF DRAWING THE SAME
SO FINE AS TO MAKE THREAD, LACE, FRINGE, AND TINSEL, AND BE AS USEFUL IN
VARIOUS BRANCHES OF BUSINESS AND MANUFACTORIES AS REAL GOLD WIRE THREAD,
LACE, FRINGE, AND TINSEL, AND A GREAT SAVING AND BENEFIT TO HIS MAJESTY'S
SUBJECTS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a provisoo that
if I, the said George Whateley. should not particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause
the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
four calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent, then the same, and all the liberties and advantages whatsoever
thereby granted, should utterly cease, determine, and become void, anything
therein contained to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding, as in
and by the said Letters Patent, relation being thereunto had, may more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said provisoc in the said
Letters Patent contained, I, the said George Whateley, do hereby particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and do hereby declare
that the same is done and performed in manner and form following (that is to
say)-
Take fine copper or two parts of fine copper, and one part of fine brass,
melt it, and when it is melted, put in a lump of borax as big as a hasel nut,
and run such metal into round or flat ingots; then file it, & form it so as
to be drawn into round wire, and draw it through eight or ten holes of a draw
plate till the wire is about two or three inches in circumference, and about
four or five inches in length; then neal or make the wire hot, after which
smooth the wire with a fine file; then take the finest virgin silver, run it into
a flat ingot, and roll it to the thinness of a sixpence or a shilling. When the
silver is so rolled, cut thereout so much as will nearly cover or clip round the
mettal wire; then, with a smooth-faced hammer, rub the rolled silver, after it
is cut out, till it is very smooth on the side intended to be put next the metal
wire, and scrape the same side of the rolled silver till it is as smooth and even
as possible; after which take a lump of borax, dip it in water, and rub it all
round the metal wire, and rub the side of the rolled silver so rubed and
scraped as aforesaid with a lump of borax dipped in water; then put that side
of the rolled silver, rubbed with borax and water, round the metal wire, and
draw it through three or four holes of the draw plate till the silver is nearly
closed round the metal wire; then bind it round with iron wire to keep it in
its place, and put it into a clear coal fire; blow the fire with bellows, and
keep the wire turning with a pair of tongs till the rolled silver and the metal
wire cement and incoporate together; take it out of the fire, and lay it on
the top or side of the fire, and let it cool gradually. When it is cool, take
off the iron wire, and boil the mettal wire, so plated with silver, in about two
quarts of water, in which put half a pound of allum, and boil it about ten
minutes; then draw the mettal wire, so plated with silver, through four or five

page_text: holes of the draw plate till the silver is intirely closed round the metal wire;
then neal it, and file or smooth the rolled silver so plated upon such mettal
wire, and rub such silver-plated wire with a lump of borax and water; then
take pure virgin gold, run it into a flat ingott, and roll it to the thinness of a
sixpence or a shilling. When the gold is so rolled, cut thereout so much as
will nearly cover or clip round the said silver-plated wire; then, with a smooth-
faced hammer, rubb the rolled gold, after it is cut out, till it is very smooth on
the side intended to be put next the said silver-plated wire; and then scrape
the same side of the rolled gold till it is as smooth and even as possible; after
which take a lump of borax, dip it in water, and rub it on the side of the
rolled gold so rubbed and scraped as aforesaid; then put that side of the rolled
gold, rubbed with borax and water as aforesaid, round the said silver-plated
wire, and draw it through three or four holes of the draw plate till the gold is
nearly closed round the silver-plated wire; then bind it round with iron wire
to keep it in its place, and put it into a clear coal fire; blow the fire with
bellows, and keep the wire turning with a pair of tongs till the rolled gold
and silver-plated wire cement and incorporate together; then take it out of
the fire, and lay it on the top or side of the fire, and let it cool gradually.
When it is cool, take off the iron wire, and boil the said silver-platted wire,
so plated with gold as aforesaid, in about two quarts of water, in which put
half a pound of allum, and boil it about ten minutes; then draw the said wire,
so plated with gold as aforesaid, through four or five holes of the draw plate
till the gold is entirely closed round the silver-plated wire; then neal such
gold-plated wire, and let the same cool gradually by the fire; and draw the
same through so many holes of the draw plate dressed with bees' wax, till it
gets stiff and stubborn, and continue to neal and draw the said gold-plated
wire in manner and form last mentioned from time to time so often as the
said gold-plated wire requires it, taking care, when such gold-plated wire is
drawn fine, to neal it in such a manner that no blaze of the fire can reach it:
and when it is drawn to the fineness that is wanted, then, in order to make
such gold-plated wire flat, and so fine as to make thread, lace, fringe, and
tinsel, take the said gold-plated wire at such a fineness as shall be thought
right, and roll it between a pair of small rolls, which will reduce such gold-
plated wire into such a state as to spin upon silk or thread, and make thread,
lace, fringe, and tinsel. And in order to make the said round plated gold wire
square, draw the said round plated gold wire through such a number of square
holes of a draw plate, dressed with bees' wax, as shall be necessary, and neal it.
and draw it from time to time, in manner and form before mentioned, until

page_text: such gold-plated wire is drawn to such squares, sizes, and fineness, as shall or
may be wanted.
In witness I, the said George Whateley, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand seven hundred and sixty-nine.
GEORGE (L.S.) WHATELEY.
AND BE IT REMEMBRED, that on the Sixth day of February, in the
year last above said, the aforesaid George Whateley came before our said Lord
the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Instrument aforesaid was stampt according to the tenor of the
Statute made in the sixth year of the reign of the late King and Queen
William and Mary of England, and so forth.
Inrolled the Eighth day of February, in the year last above said.