A MORTAR OR STUCCO FOR THE USE AND PURPOSES OF BUILDINGS, AND WHICH WOULD BE OF GREAT PUBLICK UTILITY
Year: 1780

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, RICHARD
WILLIAMS, of New Conipton Street, Soho, in the County of Middlesex, Doctor
of Physic, sends greeting.
"A
WHEREAS the said Richard Williams did, by his Petition, humbly repre-
sent unto His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, that
he had, by much study, labour, and expence, invented and brought to
perfection A MORTAR OR STUCCO FOR THE USE AND PURPOSES OF BUILDINGS,
AND WHICH WOULD BE OF GREAT PUBLICK UTILITY;" the Petitioner therefore
humbly prayed His said Majesty that He would be pleased to grant unto him,
his executors, administrators, and assigns, His Royal Letters Patent for the
sole use and benefit of his Invention, within that part of Great Britain called
England, His Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, for the
term of fourteen years; and His said Majesty, being willing to give encourage-
ment to all arts and inventions which might be for the public good, was
graciously pleased to condescend to his request, and therefore by His Royal
Letters Patent, bearing date at Westminster, the Eleventh day of December,
in the twenty-first year of His reign, of His especial grace, certain knowledge,
and meer motion, for Himself, His heirs and successors, did give and grant
unto the said Richard Williams, his executors, administrators, and assigns,

page_text: His especial licence, full power, sole priviledge and authority, that he, the said
Richard Williams, his executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of
them, by himself and themselves, or by his and their deputy or deputies,
servants or agents, or such others as he, the said Richard Williams, his
executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time.and at all times thereafter during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend his
said Invention within that said part of His said Majesty's Kingdom of Great
Britain called-England, His Dominion of Wales,. and Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, in such manner as to him, the said Richard Williams, his executors,
administrators, and assigns, or any of them, should in his or their discretion seem
meet, and that he, the said Richard Williams, his executors, administrators,
and assigns, should and lawfully might have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit,
commodity, and advantage from time to time coming, growing, accruing, and
arising, by reason of the said Invention, for and during the term of years
therein mentioned, to have, hold, exercise, and enjoy the said licence, powers,
priviledges, and advantages therein-before granted, or mentioned to be granted,
unto the said Richard Williams, his executors, administrators, and assigns, for
and during and unto the full end and term of fourteen years from the date of
the said Letters Patent next and immediately ensuing, and fully to be
compleat and ended, according to the Statute.in. such case made and provided;
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso. that if the said, Richard
Williams should not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of his said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, by an instrument
in writing under his hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in; His
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within four calendar. months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said
Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever, thereby granted,
should utterly cease, determine, and become: void; anything herein-before con-
tained to the contrary thereof in 'anywise notwithstanding, as in and by the
said Letters 'Patent, relation being thereunto had, may more fully and at large
appear.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, he, the said.
Richard Williams, doth hereby describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as follows (that
is to say)-
The mortar or stucco is made up of the following ingredients, viz, a sharp,
rough, large grain'd sand, sifted, washed, dried, and free'd from all impurities;
of well-burnt lime, slaked and finely sifted; of curd or cheese produced from milk,

page_text: the first fresh made and strongly press'd to divest it of its whey, the second, whilst
perfectly sound, rasp'd into powder with a grater, or brought into a very light
substance with scrapers or fine toothed plain irons in a turner's lathe; and, lastly,
water, in its natural state; in the under proportions, viz, the cheese or curd
four pounds, the lime twelve pounds, the sand eighty-four pounds, the water ten
pounds: Note, if the sand is not thoroughly dry'd, or the lime got damp from
the air, the quantity of water must be less than the above proportion; and; on
the contrary, when the lime is used as soon as slaked, it may require more, so
that the proper stiffness of the mortar, under those circumstances, will be the
rule of government, which must be made of as hard a consistence as will conve-
niently admit of laying the first stages of the work with little trowels in 'small
quantities, to give it the better chance for sticking well by pressing it strongly,
whether for filling up the hollows of the walls, or very thinly skining over the
projections of the bricks by way of preparation for receiving the coat or coats
designed to go on them, for which large trowels must be employed, with such
like portions of the mortar as will not destroy the force required to drive it
into the walls to make the work firm and sound, and not in great quantities
at a time, as is the usual practice' for other [stuccos made soft and thin for
that purpose; which method, if pursued on this mortar, will subject it to
ferment, swag, and fall from upright walls before it could sett, and also prevent
its ever after acquiring that degree of strength and hardness as if it had been
laid stiffer. However importunate the workmen may be, for their own ease;
to have this consistence lowered, it must not be complied with, for the above
reasons; and as they may be equally desirous of just grouting the walls with
it reduced still thinner to 'lay with a brush, as is often done, this must also be
absolutely deny'd them, as, like a rotten foundation, this grout would soon give
way, and carry everything depending on it with it. But if, in laying the first
coat, it is found in practice not to stick well to the projecting ends or other
parts of very hard burnt bricks, without being first properly prepared to
receive it, as the hollow parts have been, in the place of grouting, rub off the
dust or loose particles of dirt with a clean hard brush, without wetting the
bricks, and then cover them with the mortar in its thick working state,.
by using very small quantities at a time from the point of the trowell,
with a strong pressure, to spread it as thin as possible, that it may be
effectually rub'd into and catch hold of their more slippery or vitrify'd
parts, which their dry state will contribute to, as their absorbing power
thus will be as fully preserved, as wetting them either with simple water
alone, or mix'd up with the mortar into a grout, would destroy it; and
if this is done at the time of filling up the hollows of the walls, or after-

page_text: wards when the first coat is laying (if more than one is intended), and no
other mode is practiced in its place as a preparation of the walls for receiving
the coat or coats on it, the whole work will be secured from danger, and
its strength, hardness, and durability, with every other requisite, effectually
obtained, if the walls prove sound, and otherwise proper to receive it; but as
the certainty of this success in a great degree will depend on the mode of
laying and finishing the last coat, it being known not to admit of wetting,
the use of the common wood floats must be forbid, as their. coarse-grain'd
surface, and the close adhesive quality of the mortar, prevent their freely
passing over it without that aid, and occasions their wrigling motion in
working to detach its parts from each other, and to change it from a solid to a
spungy substance, by creating innumerable cells thereon, in which rain and
dews would unavoidably lodge instead of gliding from it, as from the hard and
slippery face produced by finishing with the trowell or lignum vitæ floats,
which have been contrived for this purpose to admit of the same degree
of pressure as the trowel in working them without injury. As the goodness of
this mortar depends on the preservation of the natural properties of the cheese
or curd made use of, all those parts the least tainted or rotten must be rejected;
and as the cheese, like the curd produced from skim milk, are divested of their
buttery and oily particles, and on that account possess a powerful cohesive
quality which makes them better for this work than others made of milk in
its rich and pure state, and are at all times to be bought of the whole-
sale cheesemongers at a lower price than any other," and being more con-
venient than the curd, as that will require frequent making, is to be prefer'd
to it as well as to every other sort of cheese, as less of it does, only four pounds
being allow'd to the net hundredweight of all the solid ingredients, more than
which might make it too lively to keep in its place without baging, but less
should not, be used, as that on the other hand would endanger its drying. loose
and gritty within its surface, and hinder its sticking properly to the walls, and
thus bring it back to the level of common mortar. All the articles are to be
brought into a well-incorporated mass, in the manner of terras, with a heavy
beater, and when designed for finishing coats of incustrations, the whole sand
intended for that purpose should be dry'd in stoves or on the floors of rooms
where there is a thorough air, of which many parcels may be dispatched
n a few days; if, whilst wet, it is passed through. seives to lay it of an even
thickness, and moved with a garden rake once or twice a day, and when dry.
swept to a corner to lay on another floor of it, and so continued till the whole,
quantity required is obtained. Limes also varying in hue and strength, as,
they are more or less burnt, such as is to be used with this sand for finishing

page_text: should be slaked some days before the intended time of making it into
mortar, when it ought to be well tumbled and mingled together to bring the
whole to one colour and quality, and then sifted and put into dry casks to
preserve it from the dampness of the air; and as there will always be a
difference in the dryness of the cheese, as well as between their rind and crum,
which make them of different strength, they likewise should be kept in large
quantities ready scraped, which, by mixing, will become of one quality, and if
the water is weighed out alike for each guage, and the mortar (made with
these ingredients) used up within forty-eight hours after, and not left longer
to require fresh beating or more water, it is very certain that the fronts
finished with it will be of one uniform colour, as the action and power of the
rain, air, and sun in the bleaching of it will be throughout the same; but if the
mortar should ever be required darker or lighter, or to set quicker or slower,
than the before-specified ingredients will do alone, pit coal or its ashes, and
baked or raw plaster, from the weight of the cheese up to that of the lime, will
produce those effects. To preserve this mortar during the forty-eight hours
fresh and fit for working, it should be kept in boxes of a size only large enough
to conveniently hold one single guage or making, with lids deeply rubbetted:
to enter pretty tight within, and to hang over the sides without to keep,
off the air and rain; besides which, more effectually to perfect the same:
design; double or treble folded coarse cloths that have been thoroughly:
soaked in water, and wrung to a moderate degree that it may not run froni;
them, are to be lay'd close and tight over the mortar, and if through:
neglect at any time this should be omitted, the crusty coat that it will have
acquired for want of that covering should be strip'd off and thrown away.
The mortar taken from these boxes or boards to mount it on the scaffolds
should be lodged on the same boards in other boxes kept empty, there to
receive and shelter them from wind or rain, and the plasterer's hawk's charged
with the mortar from thence as wanted, which will greatly facilitate its
working. Care should be taken to use the whole mortar of one making, or
to empty the box of its remainder, before a fresh gauge is put into it, to pre-
vent the quality of any part of it from being hurt by age. All these boxes, the
hods, or other vessels or instruments made use of, should be cautiously attended
to to keep them free from filth or crusty mortar, lest it gets into the fresh
makings, which would injure any of the branches of building where it may be
employed (whether for laying bricks or stone, water fences, floors, copeings,
pointing, plasterings, incrustations, and such like works, or the forming tiles,
stones, mouldings, or ornaments of any kind); and therefore is perfection is

page_text: wish'd to be attained, this and all the other rules here lay'd down should be
strictly complied with.
In witness whereof, the said Richard Williams hath hereunto set his hand
and seal, the Eleventh day of April, in the twenty-first year of the
reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the grace of God
of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith,
and so forth, and in the year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred
and eighty-one.
AND BE IT REMEMBRED, that on the same Eleventh day of April,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Richard Williams came before
our said Lord the King in His 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 stampt according to
the tenor of the Statute made in the sixth year of the reign of the late King
and Queen William and Mary of England, and so forth.