AN IMPROVED SUBSTITUTE FOR TOMB- STONES, TABLETS, MONUMENTS, AND OTHER SIMILAR MEMORIALS OR COMMEMO- RATIVE RECORDS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Ledger, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Builder, and Benjamin Williamson, of the same Place,
Traveller, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SUBSTITUTE FOR TOMB-
STONES, TABLETS, MONUMENTS, AND OTHER SIMILAR MEMORIALS OR COMMEMO-
RATIVE RECORDS."
Sealed the 9th December 1862, and dated the 18th October 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Ledger and
Benjamin Williamson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 18th October 1862.
We, HENRY LEDGER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Builder,
and BENJAMIN WILLIAMSON, of the same Place, Traveller, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SUBSTITUTE FOR TOMB-
STONES, TABLETS, MONUMENTS, AND OTHER SIMILAR MEMORIALS OR COMMEMORATIVE
RECORDS," to be as follows:-
Our improvement relates to a substitute for tombstones, monuments,
tablets, and other similar memorials, and consists in a combination-of metal
and glass, or other vitreous substance, the body of the record or memorial
being constructed of cast or wrought metal, and arranged so as to receive
panels of glass bearing any inscription, or lettering, or ornamental designs.
These glass panels are to be secured-from the inside, and packed and bedded
in any cement,. and so arranged that they may be taken out for additional
lettering, if required. The lettering may be preserved by varnishing or

page_text: painting the back; and the metallic portion of the structure may be painted
in representation of stone, marble, or otherwise, tho whole forming a durable
and economical substitute for the materials such records are ordinarily com-
posed of.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Henry Ledger and Benjamin Williamson in the Great Seal
Patent Office, on the 12th December 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HENRY
LEDGER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Builder, and BENJAMIN
WILLIAMSON, of the same Place, Traveller, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Henry Ledger and Benjamin Williamson, Her special license, that we,
the said Henry Ledger and Benjamin Williamson, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Henry Ledger and
Benjamin Williamson, our 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 IMPROVED
SUBSTITUTE FOR TOMBSTONES, TABLETS, MONUMENTS, AND OTHER SIMILAR MEMORIALS
OR COMMEMORATIVE RECORDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said Henry Ledger and Benjamin Williamson, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, 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 we, the said Henry Ledger and Benjamin Wil-
liamson, 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 and accompanying Drawings
(that is to say):-
Our inprovement relates to a substitute for tombstones, monuments,

page_text: tablets, and other similar memorials, and consists in'a combination of metal
and glass, or other vitreous substance, the body of the record or memorial
being constructed of cast or wrought metal, and arranged so as to receive
panels of glass bearing any inscription, or lettering, or. ornamental designs.
These glass panels are to be secured from the inside, and packed and bedded
in any cement, and so arranged that they may be taken out for additional
lettering, if required. The lettering may be preserved by varnishing or
painting the back, and the metallic portion of the structure may be painted in
representation of stone, marble, or otherwise, the whole forming a durable and
economical substitute for the materials ordinarily employed in such records.
We further propose that wood, stone, marble, porcelain, cement, or any plastic
materials may also be employed with glass for such purposes.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail, we have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings, similar letters of
reference being marked upon corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Fig. 1 represents a front view of a "head-stone," shewing the glass panel
inserted in a metallic framework; Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same,
shewing the method of constructing the same, and of securing the glass
panel; Fig. 3 is an elevation illustrative of the application of the Invention
to a monument or obelisk; and Fig. 4 shews its application to a slab or
tablet.
In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, a, a, is the framework of the memorial or record, and
b, b, the panel or slab of glass or other vitreous substance, inserted therein,
and bearing the inscription or device, which are first prepared by being
lettered at the back, and such lettering is to be protected and preserved with
a coating of strong varnish or anti-corrosive paint; the panel is then to be
bedded in putty or other cement in the rebate c provided for the purpose, and
is firmly retained by means of the screws and clamps d, d, d. The panel is
then enclosed by means of a back plate e in head-stones and tablets, which is
not necessary in monuments having more than one face. The head-stone or
memorial, when thus completed, may be fixed to a basement of stone, or may
be sunk into the ground, or secured against a wall. The framework may be
painted in imitation of marble, granite, or stone, bronzed, gilded, or otherwise
ornamented according to taste.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, we wish it to be. distinctly-
understood that we claim the novel employment and use of glass or similar
vitreous substance in combination with iron or other metals or materials to
form a substitute for tombstone, tablets, monuments, and other similar

page_text: 'memorials or commemorative records, as herein-before described, set forth, and
fully illustrated in the Drawings attached.
In witness whereof, we, the said Henry Ledger and Benjamin Wil-
liamson, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fifth day of
December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-two
*Witnessed by
JNO. L. DAVIES,
Office for Patents,
Manchester.
HENRY LEDGER.
(L.S.)
BENJAMIN WILLIAMSON. (L.S.)