IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BUTTONS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Edwards, of 77, Aldermanbury, in the "City
of London, and Charles Iliffe, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
BUTTONS."
Sealed the 22nd February 1861, and dated the 29th August 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left. by the said John Edwards and Charles
Iliffe at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their. Petition,
on the 29th August 1860.
We, JOHN EDWARDS, of 77; Aldermanbury, in the City of London, and
CHARLES ILIFFE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF BUTTONS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to the manufacture of pearl and other buttons, by
afixing a substantial back of other material to a face of pearl or other costly
material, thereby producing a thicker and more useful button than is now
possible from the single substance.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Edwards and Charles Iliffe in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th February 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
EDWARDS, of 77, Aldermanbury, in the City of London, and CHARLES ILiffe,
of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of August, in, the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said John Edwards and Charles Iliffe, Her special licence that we,
the said John Edwards and Charles Iliffe, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Edwards and Charles Iliffe, our
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 "MANU-
FACTURE. OF BUTTONS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
John Edwards and Charles' Iliffe, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Edwards and Charles Iliffe,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, that is to say: -
Our Invention relates to the manufacture of pearl. and other buttons, by
fixing a substantial back of other material to a face of pearl or other costly
material, thereby producing a thicker and more useful button than is possible
from the single substances.
pieces of pearl or other costly
horn, wood, or any other suitable
In making these buttons we take thin
material to form the front, and use bone,
material to form the back. These two parts are firmly rivetted or cemented
together. Holes are formed to allow the buttons to be sewn to the garment.
We sometimes use tubular-shaped rivetts or eyelets for fixing the two parts

page_text: together, and sometimes form a flexible shank by placing a piece of cloth
between the two parts of the button.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that we do not
confine ourselves to any particular material either for fronts or backs of the
buttons, or to any particular shape or form, which may be varied without
departing from our said Invention; but what we claim is, the production of
buttons, from pearl or other costly material, by uniting two materials according
to any of the before-mentioned plans.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Edwards and Charles Iliffe, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twelfth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
JOHN EDWARDS.
(L.S.)
CHARLES ILIFFE. (L.S.)