CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CANDLESTICKS OR LAMPS, AND IN CANDLES TO BE BURNT THEREIN
Year: 1821

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS,
MOTLEY, of the Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Letter Maker and
Brassfounder, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did, by.
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at Westminster, the
Twenty-seventh day of November, in the third year of His reign, give and
grant unto me, the said Thomas Motley, my exors, admors, and assigns, His
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Thomas Motley, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, during the term of years
therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CANDLESTICKS OR LAMPS,
AND IN CANDLES TO BE BURNT THEREIN;" in which said Letters Patent there is
contained a proviso, that if I, the said Thomas Motley, shall not particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of
Chancery, within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and
advantages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine; and
become void, as in and by the same, relation 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
Thomas Motley, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention by the following description thereof, and two manners in which the
same may be performed by Drawings and Figures annexed (that is to say):-
That my Invention doth consist in an apparatus for burning, for the purposes
of illumination tallow, cocoa nut oil, palm oil, any or either, or a mixture of
any or either of the same, or any other concrete, oleaginous substance, in a
vessel with the same facility as the fluid oils, and at.a much higher tem-
perature than it obtains in candles and other modes now in use, and which
temperature is effected by raising such substances when in a state of fusion to
the immediate point of ignition, instead of allowing them to recede continually
from it as in the common candle.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING MARKED A.
Fig. 1 is an elevation of an apparatus for effecting the purposes afore-
said, and which I call an Albion candlestick; Fig. 2 is a section of the
same. A is a wick holder, closed at the bottom to prevent the wick
from being floated up when the melted grease is forced up to the point
of ignition; B, B, is a plain hollow cylinder, closed also at the bottom C.
This cylinder has a shoulder or hoop D, D, cast or soldered on to it. E, E,
is a collar, which screws on to the top of the bottom or stand F, F.
It will be observed that this collar acts against the shoulder or hoop D, D,
keeping it from rising, while it allows the cylinder B, B, to be turned round
at pleasure. G is a screwed rod, fixed into the bottom of the stand F, F,
which passes through a hole in the bottom C of the cylinder B, B, such hole
being large enough to admit of its passing freely over the threads of the screw.
This rod stands upright in the center of the cylinder. H; H, is a stage or
moveable bottom, composed of a piece of thick leather between two plates of
brass, rivetted together and tapped with a screw in the centre to allow of. its
moving up and down on the rod G when turned round. I, I, is a wire,
soldered on to the side of the cylinder, fitting into a notch cut for its reception
in the stage, as at J, Fig. 3. It will be seen by this arrangement that the
cylinder B, B, is at liberty to be turned round by the thumb and finger at any
time, and that when so turned round, the wire I, I, carries the stage H, H,
round with it, and which will therefore move up or down on the rod G
according as the cylinder is turned one way or the other, the cylinder itself
being kept from rising by means of the shoulder D, D, at the top of the rod.
G is a stop K to fix the extreme distance which the stage H, H, is to rise
The wickholder A being unscrewed, as shewn at Fig. 4, a casting made of

page_text: any concrete oleaginous substance, such as shewn at Fig. 5, is dropped into
the cylinder, the rod G passing up the centre part of it, which is hollow for
that purpose, and the cylinder having been first turned round till the
stage H, H, shall have descended to the bottom of the cylinder. The wick
holder A is then screwed into its place, the lower part of it descending into the
cavity or slit prepared for it in the casting, as shewn at L, Fig. 5. A common
flat lamp wick is then put into the wick holder and lighted, when the castings
begins to melt, and by occasionally turning the cylinder, the stage II, II, rises,
forcing the casting up, and thus keep that part of the casting which is in a
liquid state close up to the point of ignition. It is only necessary further to
observe with regard to this Figure, that the stage II, II, should fit sufficiently
tight to prevent the escape of the melted oleagenous substance downward.
Fig. 6 is a mould in which to make the casting represented by Fig. 5. The
concrete olegenous substance is poured into this mould in a warm half melted
state. The mould is formed of two pieces, kept together by four small flanges
and pins, and further confined by a cap that fits on at each end over the ends
of the moulds.. The mould is open at each end, and may be made of pewter
or any other convenient metal. Fig. 7 is the coro, which should be drawn
out of the mould before the casting is cold.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING MARKED B.
Fig. 1 is a section of another Albion candlestick, a second mode of executing
niy said Invention. In this apparatus the candlestick is divided into an upper
and lower chamber N and O, and a plain solid cylinder of tallow, cocoa nut
oil, palm oil, or any other concrete oleaginous substance is introduced into
the candlestick. A is the said solid cylinder or candle inclosed in the candle-
stick; B is a hollow cylinder closed at the upper part, and acted upon by the
strong spiral spring C, which elevates it as the candle melts away at the top.
The cylinder B should be made to fit loosely into the candlestick and then
in order to prevent the liquified substances from passing it downwards should
be wound round with thread or cloth, so as to make a kind of piston. When
all the candle is melted, and consumed it is obvious that the cylinder B will be
at the top of the candlestick; and in order to draw it again to the bottom for
the purpose of charging it with another candle I introduce the screwed rod D,
Fig. 4, at the holes E, F, and, passing it up through the spiral spring into the
cylinder B, screw the end of it into the nut G, and then by means of the
thumbscrew II, H, draw the spring and with it the cylinder B to the bott m
of the candlestick, when it is ready for charging with a fresh candle.
Having described the lower part of this apparatus, I will now describe the

page_text: upper part of it. K is what I call a float, and is shewn in perspective at
Fig. 2; this float is a sort of small cossoon; it is pierced through with a sort
of oblong slit J, Fig. 2, into which the bottom of the wickholder passes; across
this slit, and at the bottom of the float is a small bar, to which is fastened "tho
small shaft L with a conical plug M at the end of it. In Fig. 1, which I am
now describing the candle is represented as pressed by the spring Cagainst the
plug, forcing up the float, and thereby stopping the hole through which
the liquid must pass into the upper chamber N, of the candlestick to supply
the wick. It will be seen by this arrangement that when the candle begins
to melt at the top the conical plug will drop and the liquid will ascend into
the upper chamber N, till it arrives at that height which will make the cassoon
float, when it draws the conical plug up with it to the hole and again shuts the
communication between the upper and lower chamber of the candlestick. It
should here be observed that the cassoon should be so regulated as only to
float just at that point when sufficient liquid has flowed into the upper
chamber of the candlestick, for the purpose of keeping the wick well supplied.
The arrangement of the wick holder and the wick itself is the same as in
the Drawing marked A, Fig. 3. This represents a heater, which is to be
applied when heated round the outside of the candlestick, and at its upper
part, for the purpose of melting the upper part of the candle when the wick is
about to be lighted, which operation is only necessary at the first lighting of
the wick. I recommend this heater to be used to the apparatus described in
the Drawing marked A, as well as that described in the Drawing marked B.
Now my said Invention may be made of any dimensions or of any suitable
materials at the option of the manufacturer; but such an apparatus as is
herein-before described, or any other on the same principles, by means of which
tallow, cocoa nut oil, palm oil, or any other concrete oleaginous substance may
be burned in a vessel with the same facility as the fluid oils, and at a much
higher temperature than it obtains in candles and other modes now in use, by
raising such substances when in a state of fusion to the immediate point of
ignition, instead of allowing them to recede continually from it as in the
common candle, being to the best of my knowledge and belief entirely new,
and never before used in these Kingdoms, I am desirous to maintain this my
exclusive right and privilege to the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Motley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-two.
THOMAS (L.B.) MOTLEY.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-seventh day of May, in
the year of our Lord 1822, the aforesaid Thomas Motley came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and spécified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-two.