IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FENCES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Kenneth Murray, of Tain, in the County of
Ross, North Britain, Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENT IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF FENCES."
Sealed the 30th January 1872, and dated the 18th August 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Kenneth Murray at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th August 1871.
I, KENNETH MURRAY, of Tain, in the County of Ross, North Britain,
Esquire, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FENCES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvement in the construction
of fences.
In order to secure the posts or standards of fences in the ground I
employ socket blocks made of earthenware; the socket blocks are
produced by forming clay in a mould, or by pressing it through a die,
and the stream of clay is cut off in lengths and is burnt; the blocks are
•

page_text: made with or without flanges or wings, and when the socket is buried
in the ground the earth being packed against it renders it finn and
immovable against any strain to which the post inserted into the socket
is likely to be exposed. There is a hole in the centre of the socket,
and into this hole the post or standard is inserted, and it is fixed by
means of cement or in other such like manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Kenneth Murray in the Great Seal Patent Office 1
on the 17th February 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, KENNETH
MURRAY, of Tain, in the County of Ross, North Britain, Esquire, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 1
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Kenneth Murray, Her special license
that I, the said Kenneth Murray, my executors, administrators, and 2
assigns, or such others as I, the said Kenneth Murray, 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
THE CONSTRUCTION OF FENCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Kenneth Murray, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Kenneth Murray, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction
of fences.
In order to secure the posts or standards of fences in the ground I
employ socket blocks made of earthenware. The socket blocks are
produced by forming clay in a mould or by pressing it through a die,
and the stream of clay is cut off in lengths and is burnt; the blocks are
made with or without flanges or wings, and when the socket is buried
in the ground the earth being packed against it renders it firm and
immovable against any strain to which the post inserted into the socket
is likely to be exposed. There is a hole in the centre of the socket, and
into this hole the post or standard is inserted, and it is fixed by means
of cement or in other such like manner.
In place of forming the socket blocks of earthenware, as herein-before
described, they may be moulded in concrete.
The annexed Drawings show a variety of forms in which the socket
blocks to receive the posts or standards of the fence may conveniently
be made. The socket blocks may advantageously be made of common
pottery or earthenware, and a strong concrete of Portland cement and
fine shingle is also a suitable material. In setting up a fence these
socket blocks are set firmly in the ground at distances apart, and a
standard is inserted into each block and fixed by preference with
cement. Wires are then strained between the standards or rods, or
bars are fixed to them so as to extend from standard to standard, as has
been usual heretofore in the construction of fences.
What I claim is the construction of fences as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Kenneth Murray, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Ninth day of February, in the year of
19