IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry McEvoy, of Hall St. Works, Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry M°Evoy at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
July 1864.
I, HENRY M°Evoy, of Hall St. Works, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE APPARATUS OR ARTICLES USED IN THE GAME OF CROQUET," to be as
follows:-
In playing at the game of croquêt it is important that the progress of the
players' balls through the hoops or arches should be clearly ascertained
and registered; through want of means of doing this, great confusion has
arisen in playing at the game. An attempt has been made to remedy this
defect by the introduction of the "patent croquêt clip," but inasmuch as
this clip is required to be moved from hoop to hoop, or arch to arch,
according to the progress of the player's ball, and as it is moreover liable
to become accidentally detached by the action of ladies' dresses or otherwise,
it is one part of this Invention to provide means by which the progress of
each player's ball through the game may be permanently registered without
being liable to disarrangement.

page_text: This object is accomplished in the following manner :-To each hoop or arch
are attached as many tallies or indicators as there are mallets or balls used in
the game, and these tallies or indicators are marked each with a different
color, but such as will cause them to correspond with the colors marked upon
the mallets and balls. The hoops or arches are prepared to receive these
tallies or indicators by giving one portion of the top part of them a horizontal
shape instead of the circular form in which they are generally made, and these
hoops or arches are made out of that sort of round-iron usually used for this
purpose. The tallies or indicators may be made out of thin sheet iron or any
other suitable material, and it is prefered to make them about three-quarters
of an inch wide and four inches long, and to fasten them to the horizontal part
of the hoops or arches by turning one end of each of the tallies or indicators
round the said horizontal part of the hoop or arch, around which horizontal
part the tallies or indicators thus fixed will easily revolve. Below this hori-
zontal part of the hoops or arches there is firmly fixed, across from side to
side of the hoop or arch, a band of thin sheet iron or any other suitable material,
and sufficiently broad to obscure the colors on one side of the tallies or indi-
cators as they fall into a vertical position when the hoops or arches are fixed
into the ground.
From this improvement thus described it will be seen that as there is a tally
or indicator on each hoop or arch corresponding in color with the mallet and
ball belonging to each player, and as these tallies or indicators may be turned
over from one side of the hoop or arch to the opposite side, there is secured by
this Invention a means of ascertaining accurately and at any time during the
progress of the game the exact position of each player. Indicators may like-
wise be fixed to the arches by forming necks at the top and bottom of them,
which necks may be inserted into corresponding holes made in two bars, which
bars are fixed, at a suitable distance from each other on the top part of the
arches; in this case, as each player plays his ball through an arch thus fitted
up, he will have to turn the indicator corresponding in color with his mallet
and ball in a latteral direction.
Another improvement consists in forming a shoulder on each side of the
hoops or arches immediately below the band before described. By this means
the hoops or arches may more readily be fixed into the ground, as they admit
of being struck with a hammer or mallet.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry M°Evoy in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
McEvoy, of Hall Street Works, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick;
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Henry M°Evoy, Her special license that I, the said Henry
M°Evoy, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Henry M°Evoy, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE APPARATUS OR ARTICLES USED, IN THE GAME OF CROQUET," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry McEvoy, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry M°Evoy,. do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment:-
My Invention consists of improvements in the apparatus or articles used in
the game of croquet. In playing the game of croquet it is essential that the
progress of the players' balls through the hoops or arches should be clearly
ascertained and registered; through want of means for doing this, great con-
fusion has arisen in playing the game. An attempt has been made to remedy
this defect by the introduction of the "patent croquet clip," but inasmuch as
this clip is required to be moved from hoop to hoop, or arch to arch, according
to the progress of the player's ball, and as it is moreover liable to. become
accidentally detached by the action of ladies' dresses or from other causes,
it is one part of this Invention to provide means by which the progress of

page_text: each player's ball through the game may be readily and conveniently registered
without being liable to disarrangement.
This object is accomplished in the following manner :-To each hoop or arch
are attached or applied as many tallies or indicators as there are mallets or
balls used in the game, which is generally eight of each, but more or less may
be applied; and these tallies or indicators are colored, or have devices on
them so as to make them correspond with the colours or devices by which the
mallets and balls are distinguished. The hoops or arches are prepared to receive
these tallies or indicators by giving one portion of the top part of them a
horizontal shape instead of the circular form in which they have heretofore
been made, and these hoops or arches are made of round iron or any other
suitable metal or material. These tallies or indicators I prefer making of thin
sheet iron, though other metals may be used,, such as brass, zinc, &c. These
tallies or indicators I make about three-quarters of an inch wide and four
inches in length, and fasten them to the horizontal part of the hoop or arch by
turning one end of each of the tallies or indicators round the said horizontal
part of the hoop or arch, around which horizontal part the tallies or indicators
thus fixed will easily revolve. Below this horizontal part of the hoop or arch
there is firmly fixed or attached, across from one leg or side to the other of
the hoop or arcb, a band of thin sheet iron or any other suitable material,
and sufficiently broad to obscure the colors or devices on one side of the
tallies or indicators as the tallies or indicators fall into a vertical position
when the hoop or arch is fixed into the ground.
From these improvements thus described it will be seen that as there is on
each hoop or arch a tally or indicator corresponding in colour, style, or device
with the colour, style, or device of the mallet and ball belonging to each player,
and as these tallies or indicators may be turned over from one side of the
hoop or arch to the other side, there is secured by this Invention a means of
ascertaining accurately and at any time during the progress of the game the
exact position of each player. Indicators may likewise be fixed to hoops or
arches by forming necks or contractions at the top and bottom of them, which
necks or contractions may be inserted into corresponding holes made in two bars,
which bars are fixed at a suitable distance from each other and from the top part
of the hoop or arch; in this case, as each player passes his ball through a hoop
or arch thus fitted up, he will have to turn the indicator corresponding in colour,
style, or device with the colour, style, or device of his mallet and ball in a lateral
direction, or as an equivalent, the indicators may be placed pendant on a
skewer or bar so arranged that they may be applied or removed at pleasure
from the hoop or arch.

page_text: Another improvement consists in forming a shoulder on each side of the
hoops or arches immediately below the band before described, by this means
the hoops or arches may more readily be fixed into the ground, as they admit
of being struck with a hammer or mallet.
Having now generally stated the nature of my Invention, in order that I
may be better understood I will proceed more fully to describe the manner of
performing the same, by reference to the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 represents my improved hoop or arch without the band, tallies,
or indicators attached to it, but shewing the form of the shoulders on each side
marked a, a, but which shoulders may be more acute so as to present a better
angle for driving than here shewn, if so preferred, and by which angles it may
be more readily driven into the ground, being. adapted to receive a blow from
a mallet or hammer. These hoops or arches are made out of round iron, and
may be bent into the shape shewn by means of a common vice and hammer,
or otherwise as convenient.
Figure 2 represents a front and edge view of a band or bar marked 6, which
may be made of thin sheet iron or other metal or material. .
may be per-
Figure 3 represents the improved hoop or arch with the band or. bar, as at
Figure 2, attached; the making and fixing of this band or bar
formed by means of the well-known appliances before mentioned.
Figure 4 represents a front and edge view of a tally or indicator made.
out of thin sheet iron or other metal or material, the eye c, c, being used for:
attachment to the top bar of Figures 1 and 3, marked d.
Figure 5 represents in front view the hoop or arch, with its eight tallies or
indicators attached to it, in position for play, each tally being separated by a
loose washer placed between them, as at e, e, &c., and it will be observed that
it is intended for each tally to be painted in various colours, numbered or lettered,
or otherwise emblazoned, to correspond with the mallets and balls usually used
in the game.
Figure 6 shews the opposite side of the hoop or arch as exhibited at Figure.
5, and in this view the band or bar b is exhibited obscuring the principal
part of the tallies or indicators, with the exception of the one marked yellow,
which has been turned over to indicate that the user of the mallet and ball of.
corresponding colour has passed through the arch, and to this extent tally
yellow marks the progress of the game.
Figure 7 represents a front and edge view of another form in which I
make the indicators applicable to this Invention. They are made by preference
out of thin sheet iron, by means of what are called cutting-out tools, in any
ordinary fly press.

page_text: · Figure 8 shews another improved hoop or arch adapted for the use of such
indicators, constructed of four parts combined together, but in perfect agree-
ment with the object and purpose of this Invention, and adapted to the kind
of indicators shewn in Figure 7. The two legs or side parts marked f, f, are
made out of round iron such as is used in making those shewn in the former
Figures. These side parts are combined together by means of the two cross
bars marked g, 9, and h, h, and these cross bars are formed out of flat iron,
and are pierced by means of suitable tools in an ordinary fly press, and are
more fully shewn in flat views at Figure 9; the bar h, h, is placed immediately
over the shoulders or angles of the two side parts, and in fact rests upon them.
The bar g, g, also shewn at Figure 9, is placed at the top of the two side parts,
and is fixed by reducing in size that portion of the top of the side parts which.
is intended to pass through the holes at the ends of the bar, as shewn at
Figure 9, marked n, n; thus it is made to rest upon two shoulders, and being
rivetted at the top of each side part, the whole becomes combined together,
and forms a complete hoop or arch; but before rivetting the top bar on, I in-
troduce as many indicators as I require to complete the structure, such as I
have shewn detached at Figure 7. It will readily be seen that the two ends of
the indicators thus formed are made to adapt themselves to the holes prepared
for them in the two bars, the broad part of the lower stem of the indicator, marked
m in Figure 7, being received into the slot holes made in the lower bar, as
shewn at h, h, in Figure 9, marked p, thus becoming fixed so that they are
not liable to turn round; but if it is required that one should be turned so
as to show the opposite side of the indicator, which will be the case every
time a player passes his ball through such hoop or arch, the player will then
have to take hold of the top part of the indicator marked q in Figure 7, lift
it up till the broad part of the lower stem is removed out of the slot hole; it
will then turn round freely and may be reversed in its position, the indicator
becoming again fixed as soon as it is released from the hand of the player.
In the hoops or arches thus fitted up, one side of the indicators presents
a blank, and is usually painted white, whilst the opposite side is made to
correspond in color, style, or device with the mallet and ball of the player
to whom such indicator belongs, and thus its position in the hoop or arch is
made to indicate the progress of such player in the game. The rings at the
tops of the indicators marked q, Figure 7, are formed out of the top stem after
the stems have been introduced through the holes in the top bar.
But as a further modification, ears may be applied, formed of sheet iron or
other metal, on the two sides of Figure 1, marked ", ", the ends of such ears.
projecting slightly forward and of sufficient size to be perforated or slotted for

page_text: receiving a round skewer of the proportion of the rest of the hoop or arch, and
upon this skewer the indicators, as exhibited detached at Figure 4, or other
desired form, may be placed, and such tallies or indicators according to their
respective colours during the progress of the game may be turned up, resting
in an inclined position against the top bar d, and in that case, as in the con-
struction last described, the talleys or indicators would be painted white on
the back side, but of the various colors as appertaining to the various players
on the front.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same may be carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not
purpose limiting myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated
in the Drawings, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature,
object, or spirit of my Invention'; but what I claim as my Invention, and wish
protected by these my in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
Firstly, the plan or arrangement of securely attaching or applying tallies or
indicators to hoops or arches used in the game of croquet, in such a manner
that though they may be securely or portably attached to the hoops or arches,
they shall nevertheless admit of being so altered in their position on the hoops
or arches as to indicate, shew, or mark the progress in the game of each
player.
Secondly, I claim the angular form of the hoops or arches, whereby facility
is afforded for driving them into the ground, necessary in setting them up
for play.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry M°Evoy, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
WILLIAM LOACH.
HENRY M°EVOY. (L.S.)