IMPROVEMENTS IN CRICKET BATS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CRICKET BATS."-A communication from
abroad by Michael Doherty, of Boston, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 31st August 1859, and dated the 1st April 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st April 1859.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CRICKET BATS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention of improvements in cricket bats is to construct
a cricket bat that will not be indented or bruised by the ball in use, and will
not sting or jar the hand in striking the ball like the common bat, and that
while being lighter will send a ball a greater distance than the common bat.
The Invention consists in constructing the blade of the bat with a mere
shell of wood and a filling of cork or other suitable elastic material, and in

page_text: constructing the handle of a hollow tube of wood with a strip of whalebone
or other flexible or elastic material running through its centre and down
into the blade.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lanc, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineor, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Iler
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my exccutors, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN CRICKET BATS," being a communication from
Michael Doherty, of Boston, in the United States of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and scal, should particularly describo
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 William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thercon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention of improvements in cricket bats is to construct
a cricket bat that will not when in use be indented or bruised by the ball, and
will not sting or jar the hand in striking the ball as is the case with the

page_text: common bat. The improved bat also while being lighter will send a ball. a
greater distance than the common bat.
In the accompanying Drawing, Figs. 1 and 2 are longitudinal views of a
bat constructed according to the present improvements. These views are
taken at right angles to each other, and exhibit the bat partly in section.
Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the blade of the bat; Fig. 4 is a transverse
section of the handle.
The Invention consists in constructing the blade of the bat with a mere
shell of wood and a filling of cork or other suitable elastic material, and in
constructing the handle of a hollow tube of wood with a strip of whalebone or
other flexible or elastic material running through the centre and down into
the blade.
:
In applying the improvements, the bat is to be constructed of about the
usual size and form, making the blade A and handle B separate, and each of
one or more pieces of wood. The blade A, whether made of one piece or of
two or more separate pieces, is divided longitudinally in a plane as near as
possible parallel, with its face a, as indicated by the line b, b, in Figs. 2 and 3,
and each half is hollowed out to receive the filling c, c, which is made of cork,
but which may be made of other moderately elastic substance. The handle B,
whether made of a single piece or of two or more separate pieces is divided
longitudinally in a plane at right angles to the face of the blade, and is
hollowed out in the form of a tube, as shown in Fig. 4, and between the two
parts there is inserted a flat strip of whalebone d or other material of similar
spring-like character, which is made long enough to extend some distance
down into the blade, as shown in the section Fig. 1. The wooden part of the
handle on each side of the strip d is also tapered and fitted into an opening
provided for it in the blade, as shown in the last mentioned Fig. The several
parts of the bat made and fitted together, as above described, are united by
glueing. The combination bat thus produced is of a weight less than four-
fifths that of a common bat of the same size. The lightness thus obtained is
what has been aimed at by all bat manufacturers, and will be appreciated by
practical cricketers.
Having now described the Invention of improvements in cricket bats, and
having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, as communi-
cated to me by my foreign correspondent, I would observe that what I consider
to be new in the above described improvements, and therefore desire to claim
as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid is, constructing
the blade of the bat of a wooden shell with a filling of cork or other clastic
material, and also constructing the handle of the bat of a wooden tube with

page_text: a central strip of whalebone or other elastic material of similar character
running down into the blade, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of September, in the year
of our Lord Oue thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.s.)