IMPROVEMENTS IN TENTS OR OTHER MOVEABLE HABITATIONS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Scott Lillie, Companion of the Most Honorable
Order of the Bath, of No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TENTS OR OTHER
MOVEABLE HABITATIONS."
Sealed the 19th October 1855, and dated the 2nd May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Scott Lillie at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
May 1855.
I, JOHN SCOTT LILLIE, Companion of the Most Honorable Order of the
Bath, of Number 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TENTS OR
OTHER MOVEABLE HABITATIONS" to be as follows, that is to say:-
I construct a tent or hut of wood or metal framing of two parts, each part
being moveable on rollers; under ordinary circumstances, these two parts being
joined, a complete tent or hut is formed. To increase its dimensions canvass is
employed, which is wound round rollers suitably disposed, & fixed to one of
the separated parts of the hut, from which it is wound out to the required
length, and its end attached to the other part of the hut by means of hooks and
eyes, or other suitable fastenings. In lieu of canvass for covering the space
intervening between the two parts, leaves or planks of wood or sheets of metal
of variable dimensions, and similar in principle to the leaves of extensible
dining tables, can be employed, which said planks or plates can be fixed upon a
suitable framing.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Scott Lillie in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd October 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN SCOTT
LILLIE, Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, of No. 4, South
Street, Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of May, 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 John Scott Lillie, Her special license that I, the said John Scott Lillie,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Scott Lillie, ny 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 of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TENTS OR OTHER MOVEABLE HABITATIONS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Scott Lillie, 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 John Scott Lillie, do hereby declare the.
nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereto annexed, and to
the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say: -
My improvements consist in the construction of tents or huts composed of
wood, metal, or other suitable material in two separate parts, so that when the
parts are united they form a hut. To form a large tent, the two divisions are
separated to the required distance, and poles or curtain rods are secured to the
roof and sides, then covered with canvass or other flexible material attached to
spring rollers, and thus raised or lowered in the usual way.
Figure 1 of my Sheet of Drawings represents an outline of one of these
parts; and Figure 2 represents two of those parts or divisions placed together,
so as to form a complete hut. The dotted lines A in these two Figures show
how the walls may be opened on a horizontal axis, and how by this means

page_text: the sections of this hut may be made to serve as screens for the protection of
troops against an enemy's fire, while the troops are enabled to fire on an
enemy through these openings. When these walls of wood are faced with sheet
iron of sufficient strength, they will be proof against musket balls.
Figure 8 shews the method of increasing the size of the hut or tent. Band
C represent the two parts, placed at the required distance from each other, and
which form the ends. Upon brackets or suitable bearings are fixed the spring
rollers D (one being placed on each side of the roof), and which are provided
with a wooden cover to protect them from rain. By this method tents or huts
can be formed capable of being enlarged to any required dimensions.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that what I
claim is, the construction of huts, tents, and other moveable habitations
capable of extension, in the manner herein-before described, and referred to in
the annexed Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Scott Lillie, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
3. S.
S. LILLIE.
(L.S.)