AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MOROCCO LEATHER."
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John O'Meara Beamish, of Trafalgar Road, Old
Kent Road, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF MOROCCO LEATHER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John O'Meara Beamish at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st February 1856.
I, JOHN O'MEARA BEAMISH, of Trafalgar Road, Old Kent Road, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for AN IMPROVEMENT IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF MOROCCO LEATHER, to be as follows:-
My Invention of an improvement in the manufacture of morocco leather,
relates to a means of producing leather of the quality known as morocco
leather from the hides or skins of oxen, cows, calves, horses, and other large
animals. It is well known that morocco leather is usually produced from the
skins of small animals, such as kids or goats, and that being of small size a
considerable waste of material takes place when the skins are cut up or used
for any of the purposes for which morocco leather is usually employed. It
is evident that a considerable economy of material will be effected by manu-
facturing morocco leather from skins of a larger size than those usually
employed for the purpose.
The hides or skins of large animals, such as those above mentioned, are in

page_text: their natural state much too thick to be manufactured into morocco leather, I
therefore propose to prepare them for such a purpose by paring or shaving
away, either by hand or by mechanical means, the back or fleshy part of the
hide or skin, so as to reduce it to the proper thickness for morocco leather; I
am thereby enabled to obtain a very large skin of the proper substance, and
then I treat this skin in a somewhat similar manner to that usually adopted with
the ordinary small skins, such as kid and goat skins, when manufacturing the
same into morocco leather. By thus making a morocco skin from a thick
hide or skin, by cutting away the fleshy part, I not only obtain a skin of
larger dimensions than usual, and which can consequently be used more
economically than a smaller skin, but I also obtain a skin of better quality
than the ordinary skins, inasmuch as by paring or shaving away the back or
fleshy part, the veins and blood vessels are removed therewith, whereas in
smaller and thinner skins it is almost impracticable to remove these veins
without injuring the skins.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John O'Meara Beamish in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st August 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
O'MEARA BEAMISH, of Trafalgar Road, Old Kent Road, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John O'Meara Beamish, Her special license that I, the said John O'Meara
Beamish, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John O'Meara Beamish, my 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
IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MOROCCO LEATHER, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John O'Meara Beamish, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be

page_text: 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 O'Meara Beamish, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):-
My Invention of an improvement in the manufacture of morocco leather,
relates to a means of producing leather resembling in appearance that known
as morocco leather. The improvement consists in manufacturing such leather
from the hides or skins of oxen, cows, calves, horses, and other large animals.
It is well known that morocco leather is usually produced from the skins of
small animals, such as kids or goats, and that being of small size, a consider-
able waste of material takes place when the skins are cut up or used for any
of the purposes for which morocco leather is usually employed. It is evident
that a considerable economy of material will be effected by manufacturing
morocco leather from skins of a larger size than those usually employed for
the purpose.
The hides or skins of large animals, such as those above mentioned, are in
their natural state much too thick to be manufactured into morocco leather, I
therefore propose to prepare them for such a purpose by paring or shaving
away, either by hand or by mechanical means, the back or fleshy part of the
hide or skin, so as to reduce it to the proper thickness for morocco leather; I
am thereby enabled to obtain a very large skin of the proper substance, and
then I treat this skin in a somewhat similar manner to that usually adopted
with the ordinary skins, such as kid and goat skins, when manufacturing the
same into morocco leather. By thus making a morocco skin from a thick
hide or skin, by cutting away the fleshy part, I not only obtain a skin of
larger dimensions than usual, and which can consequently be used more
economically than a smaller skin, but I also obtain a skin of better quality
than the ordinary skins, inasmuch as by paring or shaving away the back or
fleshy part, the veins and blood vessels. are removed therewith, whereas in
smaller and thinner skins it is almost impracticable to remove these veins
without injuring the skins.
Having now described my Invention of an improvement in the manufacture
of morocco leather, and the best means with which I am acquainted for
carrying the same into effect, I claim, in conclusion, the application to the
manufacture of morocco leather of the skins or hides of oxen, horses, cows,
calves, and other large animals, from which skins or hides the inner and fleshy

page_text: part has been removed, by cutting, paring, or shaving away the same, so as to
reduce the skin or hide to the required thickness for morocco leather, as above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John O'Meara Beamish, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the First day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.