IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HEARSES, MOURNING AND OTHER CARRIAGES
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
SHILLIBEER, of Belgrave Street, King's Cross, in the County of Middlesex,
Coach Builder, do send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Twentieth day of September, in the fifth year of Her reign, did give and
grant unto me, the said George Shillibeer, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said George Shillibeer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said George Shillibeer, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times hereafter during the term of years therein mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF HEARSES, MOURNING AND OTHER CARRIAGES;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that I, the said George Shillibeer,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chan-
cery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same (relation being
thereunto had) may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George Shillibeer, 'do hereby, and by the Drawing hereto annexed, which I
declare to be part of this Specification, particularly describe and ascertain the

page_text: nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed
(that is to say) :-
My said Invention consists, firstly, in the combination of a vehicle or hearse
for conveying dead bodies to the place of interment with a vehicle or carriage
for conveying the mourners attending a funeral, and so as to form one vehicle
or carriage in the mode herein described; and by means of my said Invention
a dead body, together with the mourners, may all be conveyed to the place of
interment in one vehicle or carriage, and therefore at a much smaller cost
than is usually paid for a hearse and mourning coach, when used (as hitherto)
as separate carriages. Secondly, a break or drag of the form hereafter
described.
The first part of my said Invention will be seen delineated in Figures 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, which will be understood by the following descrip-
tion thereof (that is to say):-The letters A, A, A, Figure 1, mark that part
of my compound vehicle which I term the hind body. a, a, mark the rocker
or bottom. B, C, D, mark the portion of the vehicle within which the coffin
is placed, and which I term the hearse. The interior of the hind body has
seats fixed to the sides, of the usual height and width of the seats of carriages
in general. I make the dimensions of the hind body about four feet two
inches wide, and four feet five inches high; the rocker or bottom about
four inches deep; and a window on each side of the body, as seen in the
Figures 1 and 2, of about twenty-three inches wide by sixteen inches deep.
The hinder part of the hind body I make about four feet six inches wide,
and about four feet five inches high, with a door about twenty-three
inches wide, having a window of about twenty inches square. This is
shewn in Figure 5, where A, A, marks the body; B, the door opening;
and C, the door opened. The front part of this hind body I make of about
four feet six inches wide at the top, about four feet two inches wide at the
bottom, and about four feet five inches in depth, or from top to bottom.
The hearse part of the vehicle is shewn in the Figure 1, and marked
B, C, D, E, F, G. The component parts of the hearse are as follows:-
E, F, G, is the side edge of the platform, of about seven feet in length,
extending from the front of the hind body A, A, A. I make it of about three
feet eight inches in width, and of about two inches in thickness. It is com-
posed of three distinct pieces, which in Figures 1 are respectively marked
E, F, and G. Of these pieces that marked E is about four feet in length,
and extends from the front of the hearse to the point H, at which place the
second portion F is hinged upon the upper edges of the joining formed at that
place by the two pieces; this allows the portion F to be turned up at right

page_text: angles to the portion E. A third portion G is hinged upon the second portion
Fat I in like manner, so as to allow G to be turned at right angles to F.
These two pieces F and G are together about three feet in length, F being
about twenty-four inches, and G about 12 inches. The portions F and G of
the platform being thus turned on the joints at the edges of their respective
joinings, the platform itself is then in effect made shorter by the amount of the
length of those portions, or reduced to a total length of about four feet. Tho
upright sides of the hearse, of which one is shown in the Figure 1, at
B, C, and D, are also made in distinct pieces or compartments. The first
>portion B is fixed; the next portion C is a door opening outwards on
hinges at C, C, and is fastened, when closed, by a latch and handle at K;
the portion D is also a door, opening outwards, and hinged on the upright U,
and fastened by a sliding bolt to the platform of the hearse. The hinges
of the part D have their pins maile so as to be capable of being with-
drawn. In order that the portion D may be removed from the hearse,
the door C being opened, that part of the slide marked D may be
displaced by releasing its bolt, and withdrawing the pins of the hinges.
The portion D of the side having been removed, and the parts A and F
of the platform having been elevated (as shewn in Figure 8), the part of
the platform marked E and of the side C (supported by two guide rods, as
herein-after described) can be pressed back to the front of the hind body of
the vehicle. By the movement above described the hearse is shortened about
three feet. By this mode of shortening the length of the hearse it is fitted for
the reception of coffins of smaller dimensions, or made more convenient and
manageable on its return from the place of interment after the cercniony.
The top of the hearse has no wooden cover but has wooden bars across it to
support any covering which may be chosen, such as japanned leather, velvet,
&c. Y and X, X, are iron rods for supporting a canopy or drapery over the
hearse. The upright rod Y stands in a socket at 10, and the horizontal rods are
fixed by screws at Z, Z, Z. These rods may be removed from the vehicle
when not intended to be used. In the Figure 2 the hind body of the vehicle
is shewn in its side elevation, as in the Figure 1, but having the hearse
shortened in the manner above described. In the Figures 1 and 2, L and M
respectively mark the front and the hind wheels of the vehicle in the positions
in which they stand in each state of the vehicle respectively. I suspend the
hind body of the vehicle upon two springs of about four feet in length, one on
cach side, and I suspend the hearse upon two elliptic springs of about three
feet four inches in length, according to the common usage of coach building.
The hind springs have two scroll irons at the front, and two others at the hind

page_text: end of the springs. The springs are furnished with the necessary ironwork,
and are attached to the carriage and to the body part of the vehicle in the
ordinary way. These springs and the mode of attaching them being well
known, it is unnecessary further to describe them, and they are therefore not
shewn in the Drawing. The carriage part of the vehicle is constructed in the
ordinary way for one or two horses (that is to say), with two shafts and one
pole, and a splinter bar, which can be put on or taken off as occasion may
require.
I now describe the mode by which I effect the adjustment of the different
lengths of the hearse in the process of shortening it, above mentioned. In
the Figure 3 is shewn a plan of the under side of the platform E, F, G,
described in the Figure 1. The whole length of the platform extends from its
front at E by the dotted line E, F, and G, to the back at X. At H there is a
division, as described in Figure 1; and this portion of the platform from
its front at E to the division at FL is the portion which I have described
in Figure 1 as composing its first portion E. The platform then continues,
as indicated by the same dotted line, through the point H to the point I,
where there is a second division; this portion corresponds with the second
portion of the platform marked F in Figure 1. From this point the
platform continues, by the dotted line, through a third portion G i to the
line X, which marks the front of the hind body A, A, A. In this Figure 3
the joints described in the Figures 1 and 2 as connecting the three portions of
the platform E, F, and G, are here marked H and I respectively, as in
the Figure 1. Now between the framing of the front of the hind body
A, A, A, and the brass bar Y of the framing of the portion E of the platform,
and underneath them, is placed an iron square-threaded screw G, G, of about
three feet two inches in length, and about one inch and a half in diameter;
this is held at its head at Z by a collar and brasses attached to the bottom bar
of the hind body. On the framing of the platform, and underneath it, on the
brass bar Y of the portion E of the platform, there is fixed a hollow screw J,
in which the screw G², G², works, the screw G³, G³, being fixed by its head to
the hind body at Z, and working in the hollow screw at J, which is fixed to
the portion E of the platform. When the folding portions F and G of the
platform are folded up, as described in Figure 2, and shewn in Figure 8, if
the screw G, G, Figure 3, be worked by the winch W at its head, the effect
will be to draw the portion E of the platform towards the hind body; the
length of the screw G2, G3, in that case passes under the portion E of
the platform until the edge If of the portion E has reached the line X at the
front of the hind body, when (the door C, Figure 2, being closed) the vehicle

page_text: will have the appearance shewn in Figure 2. The guide rods L, L, are cach
attached by one of their ends to the framing of the portion E of the platform
by the irons M, M, and sliding through the supporting irons N, O, which are
fixed to the bottom of the hind body, they pass, as before mentioned, through
the front of the bind body at V, V, and underneath its seats, as indicated by
the dotted lines P, P; with the advance of the platform E, and the progress
of the screw G³, G, the guide rods L, L, advance as E advances, and
passing through N, N, they go forward into the hind body to the situation
shewn by dotted lines Q, Q. The guide rods may be made of rectan-
gular section instead of round, and of any strength that may be required.
As the platform E is made to advance by the action of the screw G³, G.,.
the screw itself passes into a sheath K, which may be made of strong
leather, or any other suitable material, and which may be suspended from
the platform at several points through its length by small straps. The
supporting irons N, O, seen from the bottom of the hind body, and the
platform on their under sides, are shown in the Figures 1 and 2 in profile
or side elevation, and marked with the letters N, O, as in Figure 8. In
Figure 4 is shewn a plan of the under side of the platform when the hearse
is reduced to its shortest dimensions, as before described. The portions F
and G of the platform being turned up to the extent of three feet, the
portion E alone remains visible, and to the extent of four feet, as already
described. In Figure 4 the same parts are respectively marked with the same
letters as in the Figure 3. In the Figure 5 is shewn the back of the hind body
with its doorway B and the door C open. A, A, A, marks the body itself, the
interior of which is partially seen in this Figure, and portions of the seats are
shewn at E, E. D is the floor of the hind body, and at F is a raised block or
step in which the head F of the screw G, G³, is held by its collar in the
brasses, as before described in the Figure 3. In the Figure 6 is shewn a
portion of the interior of the hind body A, A, drawn to a larger scale and in
perspective. It exhibits the part of the hind body at which the ends P, P,
of the guide rods L, L, pass on to it underneath the seats, as described in
Figure 3. In this Figure 6 the guide rods are seen entering the interior of
the hind body, and passing through the metal collars M, M, M, M, which at
I, I, are bolted down to the bottom sides of the body at II, II, and underneath
5 the seats E, E, the cushions and tops of which are here removed to shew
its interior. F marks the outer face of the seat rail on one side of the
carriage, and G marks the inner face of the seat rail on the opposite side.
At O is shewn the raised block on the front bottom side or bar in which the
head Z of the screw G³, G, is held by its collar and brasses, as before

page_text: described, with W, its winch and handle. In the Figure 7 is shewn in per-
spective the entire length of the platform E, F, G, of the hearse, with a
portion of the upright sides thereof; namely, the first portion B, shewn in
Figure 1, with the door C opened, and the portion D (Figure 1) removed.
At B and C the same parts on the opposite sides are shewn. The portions
E, F, and G, are marked with those letters respectively, as in the plan of
the platform at the Figure 3. At the front end of the hearse or the end B
(Figure 7), a portion of that front K, of about fourteen inches wide, turns
out on hinges, as represented in the Figure. A second portion Q of about
twelve inches wide, and next above the portion K, slides out, and being placed
across the front bar of the hearsc, it thus forms a seat for a driver, while the
piece K becomes a commodious foot-board. The seat has two jointed rail
irons (as shewn in Figure 2), which are folded down, when not in use, as a
seat, and turned up. When it is placed, the foot-board K turns out on its
hinges, and is held by the side quadrant irons shewn in the Figure. The
foot-board K and the scat Q are shown as fixed for their respective uses in
the Figure 2. The portion G of the platform is capable of forming a second
scat (also fitted with iron rails) behind the first, as shown at G in the
Figure 2. The strait dotted lines 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 5, complete
the outline of the hearse as it would appear if its sides were put on. In this
Figure (Figure 7) the platform is shewn divided, as in the Figures 1 and 3,
into the portions E, F, and G, and jointed at H and I. One of the guide
rods is also shewn at L, the supporting iron N, O, and the front of the hind
body A, A. The circularly curved lines 6 and 6, 7 and 7, 8 and 8 show
respectively the directions taken by the two portions F and G of the platform
when they are folded up to shorten the hearse, and 9 and 9 represent the
course of the doors C, C, when they close. The mode of folding up the
jointed portions of the platform, in order to shorten the licarse to a length of
four feet, has been before described. In the Figure 2, which shews the plat-
form so folded up, the portion E remains on the under side of the hearse thus
shortened. The portion F, folded up at right angles to E, stands in a
vertical direction and forms the back to the hearse, and the portion G,
folded at right angles to the portion F in an horizontal position, as shewn
in the Figure 2, and in that position resting upon supporting ledges
within the sides of the hearse, it forms a second seat G, as before men-
tioned, and as shewn in Figure 2, near the front of the hind body. The
portion G is also provided with jointed rail irons, as in the front seat, which
in like manner are folded down, when not in use, as a seat, and are turned up
when it is placed. The seats Q and G (Figure 2) are intended to acco

page_text: modate the attendant servants of the ceremony on their return from the place
of interment. In the Figure 8 are shewn the portions F and G of the plat-
form, with a part of the portion E, shewing more distinctly the mode of
folding up the portions F and G and their relative positions when so folded up.
In this Figure arc shewn C', the front edge of the door C, the hinging of the
portion F upon E, and the hinging of the portion G upon F. The dotted
representation F and G, in the horizontal direction from E, shew the position
of F and G, from which they are respectively removed when folded up. Lis
one of the guide rods before mentioned, V its point of entrance into the hind
body, and N, O, the supporting iron of the guide rod. In Fig. 9 is shewn
the front of the hearse in an end elevation, with the hind body A, A, A, A,
behind it, also in an end elevation. In this Figure the platform of the hearse
is marked E; the sides of the hearse are marked B, B; the sent (formed as
described in Figure 7) is marked Q; the foot-board (also described in Figure 7)
is marked K; and the open space left in the hearse by the removal of the part
Q, and the turning out of the foot-board K, is marked with the letter S.
G (Figure 9) shews the place at which the screw G³ passes into and through
the front of the hind body A, A, A, A. Land L shew the places at which the
two guide rods pass into the hind body A, A, A, A. In the Figure 10 is seen
an end elevation B, B, of a portion of the inner side of the back of the hearse
and of the front of the hind body A, A, against which it is placed, to shew the
form and disposition of the irons by which the guide rods are supported in their
course under the platform of the hearse. D, C. (Figure 10), is a scroll iron,
which is bolted at d and f, to the under side of the hind body, and this scroll
iron holds the fore end E of one of the hind springs of the vehicle. The bolt of
this scroll iron also holds the lower extremity of the supporting iron O, on the
upper extremity of which is the ring N, through which the rod L slides. G is
the place at which the screw G³ (shown in Figure 3) enters the hind body.
I apply to my vehicle, when required, the usual ornamental coverings and
funeral decorations, such as velvet coverings, canopies, feathers, fringes,
escutcheons, and all the devices in common and known usage in the arrange-
ments of funerals, without claiming any exclusive privilege in such uses or the
application of them. And I hereby declare that I do not claim as of my
Invention the particular form or construction of the hind part of the body of
the vehicle herein-before described. But that I do claim as of my Invention
the combination of vehicles for conveying dead bodies with vehicles for con-
veying the mourners and others in the manner herein-before described.
The second part of my Invention consists of a self-acting break or drag,
which is applicable to my carriage, herein-before described, or to any other

page_text: four-wheeled carriage, drawn by two horses. A, Figure 11, in the annexed
Drawing, is the pole of the carriage; B, the sway bar; C is the fore axletree
bed; D, D, the fore springs; E, E, the fore wheels; and F, F, the splinter
bar; H, II, are two iron levers, each moving on a fulcrum G, which is fixed
to the bar F, F, to act horizontally, and the levers are brought together by a
centre pin at I, which passes through both of the levers, and also through the
pole A, the pin I thus forming a common centre to both the levers. The
levers are attached to the pole at I, so as to have a free motion on the centre
pin I. To the opposite end of each of the levers H, H, is jointed in a
similar way a bent lever J moving on a fulcrum j, fixed in the bar F, F.
The outer extremity of each of the said levers J, J, carries an iron curb K,
lined with wood, which in the Figure is curved circularly to the same radius as
that of the outer surface of the tire of the wheel, and having its concave face
presented toward the edge of the wheel and opposite to it. In action the
operation of this apparatus is thus:-If by the action of the horses the pole A
be pressed back towards the body of the carriage, the pin I, operating on the
levers H, H, depresses their extremities h, h, and thus acting upon the second
levers J, J, advances the curbs K, K, and presses them against the tire of the
wheels, impeding the free action of the wheels in a greater or less degree as
the pole A is pressed back with more or less force by the bearing back of the
horses.
In witness whercof, I, the said George Shillibeer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
J. E. DOWDESWELL.
GEORGE (L.S.) SHILLIBEER.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Nineteenth day of March,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid George Shillibeer came before our
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
And
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Nineteenth day of March. in the year above written.