IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLERY AND HARNESS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MURRAY, of Canterbury, in the County of Kent, Barrack Master and
I Captain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Tenth day of March, in
the fourteenth year of Her said Majesty's reign, and in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the ŝaid James Murray, Barrack Master
and Captain, aforesaid, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial license,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said James Murray, my
exors, adiiors, and assigns, and to such others as 1, the said James Murray,
my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, excrcise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in the Islands of
Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLERY
AND HARNESS;" and in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that 1, the said James Murray, should particularly describe and ascertain the
naturo of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be made,
performed, or carried into practical effect, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, and enroll or cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery in England within six calendar months next and

page_text: immediately after the date of the said Royal Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being had thereto, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in humble compliance with the said proviso, I,
the said James Murray, Barrack Master and Captain, do hereby declare
that the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed and carried into practical effect, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the illustrative Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, and forming part of this
my Specification, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference marked
thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of certain new and mechanical combinations of parts
applied to saddles used on horses or other beasts of burthen, whereby or by
the use of which combination an easier and safer seat is secured to the rider.
The advantages which will result from the use of my spring-seated saddle are
considereable. The seat is formed upon the saddle-tree, and is perfectly inde-
pendent of it, bearing uniformly over the saddle, the entire weight of the rider
(the springs formed solely of the finest-tempered steel, being so fixed and
having such bearing as to render it impossible they should press on the back
of the horse, sustaining it from off the tree, and thus relieving the horse
from the usual concussions, particularly at the trotting pace experienced from
the motion of the rider in the saddle. The rider is secure from such accidents
too often terminating in hernia by the use of this saddle, while persons
suffering from its effects, or otherwise delicato constitution, will find a saddlo
constructed upon the principle of my Invention a decided improvement on any
now in use. It will also counteract the uneasiness and jerking in the seat
produced by horses of awkward and irregular action.
I will now proceed to describe the mechanical arrangements by which the
above-mentioned improvements are effected. On reference to the Drawing it
will be seen that Figure 1 represents a plan view of the improved saddle tree and
appliances, drawn to half the usual saddle size. The seat consists of one central
and two (or, if desired, more) outer springs, A, B, C; the central one A is
forked, dividing itself into the two branches a¹ and a². These springs have slots
at the pommell end, D, E, F, within which are the springs G, H, I, rivetted to
the pommell of the saddle in their respective places, so as to allow of the free
longitudinal play of the springs in the direction shewn by the arrows. The springs
are curved each respectively to the double curvature of the formation of the seat
of the saddle, and their other extremities are secured to the cantle thereof by
their being let into the transverse plates P1, P2, which are rivetted to the back
of the cantle, the end of the springs being let in over a circular spindle of

page_text: steel or other suitable metal or material, as shewn at S, S, and shewn in
detail at Figure 2, which is a part longitudinal section taken through the line
K, L, at Figure 1, and drawn to full size. The seat thus formed by the set
of springs thus fastened, though formed upon the saddle trees, becomes inde-
pendent of it, and distributes the weight of the rider over the different points
G, H, I, p, p, p,p. The holes in the forked part of the centre spring A aro
for the purpose of receiving a lace made either of india rubber braid elastic
metal springs or other suitable material to support the stuffing or padding of
the saddle, which might otherwise possibly descend by constant use lower than
desirable. The longitudinal edges of the plates A, B, C, are slightly curved to
suit the form of the back of the saddle, as well as to add to their strength;
and the portions at the cantle end have a diminished thickness compensated
by their increased width.
It is not necessary that I should describe the mode or manner of fastening
or rivetting the plates on which the pins G, H, I, are formed, or the transverse
plates P1, Ps, on to or through the pommell and cantle of the saddle, as any
workman skilled in the manufacture of saddlery or harness will at once
perceive how such operations are performed by reference to the annexed
Drawing, nor do I state the sizes of the plates, spindles, springs, or pins used
in effecting my improvements, because they must needs vary according to the
size of the saddles for which they are required, without in any way departing
from the principle of my invention or improvements.
Having now described the nature of my Invention or improvements and
the arrangements for carrying the same into practical effect, in conformity
with the herein-beformentioned proviso contained in the Letters Patent so
granted, I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to
the precise details herein mentioned, as such may be varied without departing
from the peculiar character of my Invention or improvements, nor do I claim
the exclusive use of all the seperate parts above mentioned, except in so far
as the same may be employed in combination and for the purposes of the said
Invention or improvements, which I declaro to consist in, and―
I claim the combination of springs A, B, C, slots D, E, F, pins G, H, I,
and plates P1, P2, as herein set forth and described and illustrated in the
annexed Drawing, for the purpose of rendering saddles safer and easier to both
the rider and the horse.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Murray, Captain and Barrack
Master, aforesaid, have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal, this
Eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-one.
JAMES (L.s.) MURRAY.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighth day of September,
in the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid James Murray came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her 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 stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.