AN IMPROVE- MENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WOVEN FABRICS MADE OF WOOL, MOHAIR, OR ALPACA
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Milligan, of Harden, in the Parish of Bingley,
in the County of York, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WOVEN FABRICS MADE OF WOOL, MOHAIR, OR
ALPACA."
Sealed the 12th June 1855, and dated the 17th April 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Milligan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th April 1855.
I, ROBERT MILLIGAN, of Harden, in the Parish of Bingley, in the County of
York, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WOVEN FABRICS MADE OF WOOL, MOHAIR,
OB ALPACA," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the manufacture of peculiar fabrics, having
at parts of their surfaces the appearance of crape, and at the other parts of
their surfaces the appearance of Orleans cloth, by reason of worsted weft being
employed. And the Invention consists of weaving fabrics, when made of
wool or mohair or alpaca, or partly of either of these fibres, by employing
worsted yarn (that is, where the fibres are laid longitudinally in the yarn,)
as weft for some parts of the fabric, and woollen yarn as weft for other parts
of the fabric, the warp being of worsted or other suitable yarn.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Robert Milligan in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th October 1855.-
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
MILLIGAN, of Harden, in the Parish of Bingley, in the County of York,
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Milligan, Her special licence that I, the said Robert Milligan, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Milligan, my 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF WOVEN FABRICS MADE OF WOOL, MOHAIR, OR ALPACA," upon the con-
dition, amongst others, that I, the said Robert Milligan, 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 per-
formed, 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 Robert Milligan, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say) :-
This Invention has for its object the manufacture of peculiar fabrics, having
at parts of their surfaces the appearance of crape, and at the other parts of
their surfaces the appearance of Orleans cloth, by reason of worsted weft being
employed. And the Invention consists of weaving fabrics when made of wool
or mohair or alpaca, or partly of either of these fibres, by employing worsted
yarn (that is, where the fibres are laid longitudinally in the yarn,) as weft for
some parts of the fabric, and woollen yarn as weft for other parts of the fabric,
the warp being worsted or other suitable yarn.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed to
describe more fully the manner of performing the same.

page_text: In weaving a piece of cloth according to my Invention, I employ a warp of
worsted or cotton, or other suitable yarn, and the weaving is plain or tabby
weaving, that is, one warp up and one down when forming the shed. And the
improvement consists in shooting the warp for a time with worsted as a weft,
and then for a time with woollen yarn as a weft, by which those parts of the
fabric which are woven with worsted for the weft will, whatever be the color,
have the appearance of Orleans cloth, whilst those parts of the piece of cloth
which are woven with woollen yarn for the weft will have a dull or crape-like
appearance, by reason of the different characters of the weft employed; by
which, when a dress is made of such cloth, should the fabric be black and the
lower part thereof shot with woollen yarn for weft, the appearance would be
as if the skirt were made of Orleans cloth with a flounce of crape, and these
two appearances will occur in a piece of cloth in wider or narrower bars across
the same, according as the one or other weft is used for a greater or lesser
length of the weaving. The woollen weft employed is carded wool spun as
if for making woollen cloth, which, by reason of the yarns not being laid
straight in the yarn, will offer little lustre. The yarn which I have spoken of
as worsted yarn are those which have a bright lustrous appearance, and are
made or spun from long English lustre or other wool, alpaca, or mohair, and
in which the fibres are laid longitudinally together, in the ordinary manner of
worsted spinning.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the
manufacture herein described of woven fabrics made of wool, mohair, or
alpaca.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Milligan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
0 Witness,
SAMUEL WATMAFF,
of Harden, n' Bingley.
ROBT MILLIGAN. (L.S.)