IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES AND COVERING FOR THE LEGS
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
EDWARD MORRICE, of King William Street, in the City of London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Seventeenth day of October, in the third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Robert Edward Morrice, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Robert Edward Morrice, my exors, adñiors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Edward Morrice, my exors,
adors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES AND COVERING FOR THE LEGS," communicated
to me by a certain foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that I, the said Robert Edward Morrice, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Edward Morrice, do hereby declare that the nature of the Inven-
tion communicated to me, and the manner of performing the same, is fully
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings and letters thereon (that is to say):-
The Invention consists in a mode of manufacturing boots and shoes and
covering for the legs, whereby the labour of sewing is dispensed with, and
they are rendered more durable, and the feet are kept free from damp and wet
than with shoes or boots of the ordinary description.
In manufacturing boots or shoes I take the under sole of the required size
and form and place on it the last, over which is brought the vamp or upper
leather, which is pierced with a series of holes at the lower part, as shown in
the Drawing; into the holes is put a thin cord, by the lacing of which the
upper leather is drawn tightly over the last. It will be seen that the vamp
has also another series of holes, the purpose of which will presently be
explained.
Before drawing the cords of the vamp together I place between it and the
inner sole either a plate of metal or cork, or dissolved india-rubber, or any
other suitable material which will prevent the wet from affecting the feet
When the upper leather is drawn together, I, with an ordinary shoemaker's
hammer, press down the cord, which would otherwise present an uneven surface;
when this is completed, I apply to it the outer sole, shewn in the Drawing at
Figure 2. This sole is screwed on to the boot or shoe by means of screws
which fit into the holes made through the vamp; the heel is afterwards added
in the ordinary manner of manufacturing boots and shoes.
It will be seen by the Drawing that the screws here shewn are somewhat
different from the ordinary wooden screws, inasmuch as the heads are formed
differently, being longer, and the cut in them is also deeper; the object of this is
that as the leather of the sole wears away they may be the more easily
removed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a view of the under side of a boot or shoe, shewing the
manner of fixing the vamp or upper leather to the sole; the same letters of
reference denote similar parts in each of the Figures wherever they occur. A
is the under sole of the boot or shoe; B is the vamp or upper leather;
C, the holes through which the cord passes to draw the
upper leather
together; D, the lacing cord. Figure 2 shews the exterior sole before it is
screwed on to the other part of the boot or shoe, marked in the Drawing;

page_text: d and e represent the holes through which the screws pass to fix the soles
together. Figure 3 represents a section of the boot, shewing the mode in
which they are fixed together. Figure 4 shews the screws for attaching the
soles together; and Figures 5 and 6, the screws for fixing on the heels.
It will be evident that this Invention may be also applied to those descriptions
of coverings for the legs which have soles attached to them. The mode of its
application being the same as above described, it will not be necessary to
repeat the description of it.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would observe that I do not confine myself to the exact
manner herein shown of carrying out the Invention, nor is it absolutely neces-
sary to place the sheet of cork or other suitable material between the soles, as
I have proved that the modes of fixing the soles together preserves the feet
from damp, although I think it preferable to do so. But what I claim as the
Invention is the mode of manufacturing boots and shoes and other similar
covering for the legs as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Edward Morrice, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty.
ROBERT EDWARD (L.S.) MORRICE.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eleventh day of April, in the
year of our Lord 1840, the aforesaid Robert Edward Morrice came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.