IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE ESCAPES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Marriott, of Preston, in the County: of
Lancaster, Superintendent of the Fire Brigade, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE ESCAPES."
Sealed the 12th February 1861, and dated the 28th August 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Marriott at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th August 1860.
I, HENRY MARRIOTT, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Superin-
tendent of the Fire Brigade, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE ESCAPES," to be as follows:-
I use any convenient length of ladders, according to the number of storeys
required to be ascended. On the top of the first ladder I fix ropes and blocks,
by which I raise one or more other ladders by means of a wince placed on a
projecting platform at the foot of the bottom ladder, which acts as a balance.
To the top of the last ladder I attach by a swivel or pivot a frame which
serves as a mouth-piece to the escape or canvas conductor, which is arranged
so as to be outside or above the ladders, by which arrangement a person can
ascend the ladders, turn up the mouth-piece to the window or place where the
occupants are in danger, which they can enter and slide 'down' it without any
danger, the escape being above the ladders enabling me to give it a more
obtuse or slanting position than if arranged under the ladder, as heretofore
generally adopted.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Marriott in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th February 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
MARRIOTT, of Preston in the County of Lancaster, Superintendent of the
Fire Brigade, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth 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. me, the
said Henry Marriott, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Marriott,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henry Marriott, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FIRE ESCAPES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Henry Marriott, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, 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 I, the said Henry Marriott, do hereby declaré
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 (that is to say):
I employ any convenient length of ladder, according to the number of
stories required to be ascended. On the top of the first or lowest ladder are
fixed blocks or pulleys having ropes, by which I raise one or more other
ladders by means of a winch placed on a projecting platform at the foot of the
bottom ladder. To the top of the last ladder I attach a frame by a swivel
joint, hinge, or pivots, which frame serves as a mouth-piece to the escape or
canvas conductor, which is arranged so as to be outside or above the ladders,
by which arrangement a person can ascend the ladders, turn up the mouth-
piece to the window or place where the occupants are in danger, so that they
can enter and slide down in safety; the escape or canvas conductor being

page_text: above the ladders; enables it to be placed in a more obtuse or slanting position
than if arranged under the ladder, as heretofore generally adopted.
These improvements will be clearly understood by referring to the figures,
letters, and references on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which
Figure 1 represents a side view of one of my improved fire escapes in its
travelling position; Figure 2, a back view of the same; Figure 3, a side
view of the entrance to the canvas conductor with the support and frame of
the moveable mouth-piece; and Figure 4, an end view of the same.
The mouth-piece swivels or hinges on the joint or pivots a, and can be
turned up, as shewn by the dotted lines b, sufficiently for a man to pass under-
neath, after which it falls back by its own weight to its original position
against the end of the ladder, and as the canvas conductor is above or outside
the ladder, its mouth-piece can be placed at a short distance from the window
or other part required, and it can also be made of such a length as to enable
it to be curved near the bottom, which allows a safe descent to children or
adults without the necessity of a practised fireman bringing them down.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly
understood that I claim as my Invention, and which, to the best of my
knowledge and belief has not been hitherto used within the realm, in the
construction of fire escapes, the placing of the canvas conductor above or
outside of the ladder or ladders, and attaching to the top of the said canvas
conductor a moveable mouth-piece turning on a swivel joint, hinges, or pivots,
on supports fixed to the top ladder, as such improvements are herein described,
and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Marriott, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Henry Marriott, in
the presence of
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.
HENRY MARRIOTT. (L.s.)