MAKING A FORENSIC WIG, THE CURLS WHEREOF ARE CONSTRUCTED ON A PRINCIPAL TO SUPERSEDE THE NECESSITY OF FRIZZING, CURLING, OR USING HARD POMATUM, AND FOR FORMING THE CURLS IN A WAY NOT TO BE UNCURLED, AND ALSO FOR THE TAILS OF THE WIG NOT TO REQUIRE TYING IN DRESSING; AND FURTHER, THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF ANY PERSON UNTYING THEM
Year: 1822

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HUMPHREY
WILLIAM RAVENSCROFT, of Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the Parish of
Saint Clement Danes, in the County of Middlesex, Peruke Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King George the Fourth, in and by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fourteenth day of January last, for Himself, His heirs and suc-
cessors, did give and grant unto me, the said Humphrey William Ravenscroft,
His special licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said Humphrey William, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
every of them, by myself and themselves, or by my and their deputy or
deputies, servants or agents, or such others as I, the said Humphrey William
Ravenscroft, my 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 unexpired, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my
Invention of "MAKING A FORENSIC WIG, THE CURLS WHEREOF ARE
CONSTRUCTED ON A PRINCIPAL TO SUPERSEDE THE NECESSITY OF FRIZZING, CURLING,
OR USING HARD POMATUM, AND FOR FORMING THE CURLS IN A WAY NOT TO BE
UNCURLED, AND ALSO FOR THE TAILS OF THE WIG NOT TO REQUIRE TYING IN
DRESSING; AND FURTHER, THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF ANY PERSON UNTYING THEM;" in

page_text: which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
Humphrey William Ravenscroft, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same
to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereto had, will more fully
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Humphrey William Ravenscroft, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and
which description, nature, and manner, are as follows (that is to say):-
The caul, lining, and top of the wig are made as in the common bar wig,
but that part of it which in the common bar wig is usually covered with curls
is in the Patent wig, in the first instance, covered by a common weft of short
snap hair, applied to the caul and lining; which short snap hair forms a bed
for the new-invented curls. The upper curls are made in the following
manner, namely:-By a common frame of six threads of silk, commencing
by passing the hair double from the middle round the fourth thread from the
top downwards, then separating or dividing the fifth and sixths threads, and
thence regularly round a pipe or roller, consisting of three separate pieces, the
middle piece formed as a slide, then, fastening the hair by uniting and inter-
weaving both ends of it with all the other threads. When these curls are
formed, the ends of the hair, or what would otherwise form the shank, are cut
off, whereby the curl becomes a row of circular hair to be fixed to the caul
and lining of the wig upon the said bed of short snap hair, and when so fixed
spaces are cut by the scissars, so as to give it the appearance of separate curls.
The bottom curls are formed in precisely the same manner as the above, with
the difference only of leaving the shank on instead of cutting it off; and the
shanks to these lower curls are made by bringing the same hair, immediately
after the formation of the curl, down to a separate set of three silk threads
on the same frame (placed at a given distance from the other threads), and by
interweaving them so as to make a secure finish, which affords a root by
which it is affixed to the caul and lining upon the short snap hair already
described. All the curls are made of grizzle or grey hair, and each hair is
applied double, but only carried once round the pipe or roller. The two side
curls next and over the car are interwoven as the upper curls, and fastened on
separately. The ties or tails are made and constructed as follows, viz:-Each
tie or tail consists of three distinct sorts of weft; the first made by inter-

page_text: weaving short curled hair, about six inches in length, with three silk threads;
the second by long straight hair sixteen inches in length, woven on six silk
threads, with the points and roots downwards; the third by weaving the
same sort of hair as the second, but the roots upwards and the points down-
wards. The two last mentioned are then united by sewing them together at
the weft longitudinally; they are then separately tied together about three
inches from the said joint; the parts so tied are then brought together, which
forms the bow of the tail, leaving that part where they have sewn together
near the bottom of the bow, and are then united with the first-described part,
and that junction is concealed by passing the two last round the whole by a
common knot, which leaves the short curled hair to form the curl as issuing
from the middle of the knot. The extreme ends of the two latter parts are
then united by a common weft on three silk threads, which leaves it ready to
be attached to the wig when required.
In witness whereof, I, have hereunto set my hand and seal, the Four-
teenth day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and twenty twen
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Fourteenth day of March,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Humphrey William Ravenscroft
came before our Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, 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.