A NEW OR IMPROVED HEARSE OR BIER
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Millington, of Oaken Gates, in the County
of Salop, Timber Merchant and Builder, for the Invention of "A
NEW OR IMPROVED HEARSE OR BIER."
Sealed the 7th August 1862, and dated the 22nd February 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION, left by the said John Millington at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition on the
22nd February 1862. -
I, JOHN MILLINGTON, of Oaken Gates, in the County of Salop, Timber
Merchant and Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "A NEW OR IMPROVED HEARSE OR BIER," to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists of a hearse or bier which may either be pro-
pelled or pushed by hand, or be drawn by horse power, and constructed in
the manner herein-after described. My new or improved hearse or bier
is, however, more particularly adapted to be propelled by hand.
The body of the hearse or bier consists of a platform or stage mounted on
four wheels, the sides of the said platform covering and concealing the upper
parts of the wheels. The wheels are connected to the hearse by springs
the axle of the front pair being capable of turning so as to give the required
direction to the hearse's motion. Three pairs of handles are situated on the
sides of the hearse for the purpose of propelling it. The front pair of handles

page_text: are connected with the moveable axle of the front wheels and the front
bearers or attendants are thus enabled to direct the hearse with great
facility. The back and middle pairs of handles are fixed on the sides of
the hearse. A supplementary and removeable handle passing through the
front of the hearse enables one person to move the hearse about when it is
not in use, and whenever else it may be convenient or necessary for it to be
moved by one person. The front pair of handles and the end handle pass
through slots in the sides of the hearse, and are connected to the front axle
as before described. The coffin is placed on the top of the hearse and is
covered by a pall. Transverse ribs or bars of metal fixed on and raised
slightly above the level of the platform, support the coffin and prevent it
from rubbing and wearing the surface of the platform. The coffin may be
fixed by straps which buckle to the sides of the hearse, and the pall may
be fastened by elastic loops to the sides of the hearse. The wheels may
either be made of wood or of light tube iron, or of a combination of wood
and iron.
My new or improved hearse or bier may be made of a width suitable for
the conveyance of one or two coffins. When my new or improved hearse
or bier is to be drawn by horse power, a pair of shafts is substituted for the
front removeable handles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Millington in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th August 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MILLINGTON, of Oaken Gates, in the County of Salop, Timber Merchant and
Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of February, 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
me, the said John Millington, Her special licence that I, the said John
Millington, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Millington, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times

page_text: 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 "A.
NEW OR IMPROVED HEARSE OB BIER," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Millington, my exccutors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe 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 John Millington, 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 fol-
lowing statement thereof, that is to say :-
My said Invention consists of a hearse or bier which may either be pro-
pelled or pushed by hand, or be drawn by horse power constructed in the
manner herein-after described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
My new or improved hearse or bier is, however, more particularly adapted
to be propelled by hand.
In
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents in side elevation a
hearse or bier constructed according to my Invention; Figure 2 represents
the same in longitudinal vertical section; Figure 3 is a plan of the under side
of the hearse or bier; and Figure 4 is an end elevation of the same.
Figures 1 and 2, a coffin is represented on the hearse or bier, and in
Figure 1 a pall is represented in section over the coffin. The same letters
indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the Drawing.
The body of the hearse or bier consists of a platform or stage a, mounted
on four wheels b, c, d, e, the sides of the said platform a covering and con-
cealing the upper parts of the said wheels. The wheels are connected to
the hearse by springs f, the axle g of the front pair of wheels d, e, being
capable of turning so as to give the required direction to the hearse's motion
in the manner herein-after explained. Three pair of handles h (or in place
of handles, loops or tassels may be used) are situated on the sides of the
hearse for the purpose of propelling it. The back and middle pairs of
handles are fixed on the sides, and the front pair are connected to the axle
of the front pair of wheels as herein-after explained. A supplementary
and removable handle i passing through the front of the hearse enables
one person to move the hearse about when it is not in use, and whenever

page_text: else it may be convenient or necessary for it to be moved by one person..
The front pair of bandles h and the end handle i pass through slots in the
sides and end of the hearse, and are connected to the axle of the front pair
of wheels d, e, in the following manner:- is a cross-bar. fixed on the under
side of the platform a. Upon the cross-bar k a frame 1. turns, the said
frame being connected to the cross-bark by the pin m upon which the
frame turns. The springs on the front pair of wheels d, e, are connected
to the ends of the frame as represented. The front pair of handles h
turn upon centres h², the prolonged ends of the said handles being con-
nected by means of the links n to the frame 1. By pressing the front handles
in opposite directions an oblique position may be given to the framel and
to the axle of the front pair of wheels, and the hearse or bier may thus be
guided in any required direction. The front handle i is made to screw into
the frame at o and by the motion of the said handle i the position of the
frame and axle of the front pair of wheels may be changed and the motion
of the hearse or bier directed when it is drawn by one person by means of
the said handle i. When the hearse or bier is in use, that is being employed
to transport a corpse, the front handle i may be removed by unscrewing it
from the part o.
The coffin is placed on the top of the hearse or bier and
is covered by a pall as represented in the Drawing. When a pall is, not
used the platform a may be made to support a portable top or canopy with
plumes. Transverse ribs or bars of metal fixed on and raised slightly above
the level of the platform support the coffin and prevent it from rubbing and
wearing the surface of the platform. The coffin p may be fixed by straps q
which buckle to the sides of the hearse, and the pall 1° may be fastened by
elastic loops to the sides of the hearse. The wheels b, c, d, e, may either
be made of wood or of light tube iron, or of a combination of wood and
iron.
My new or improved hearse or bier may be made of a width suitable for
the conveyance of one or two coffins and of small size for conveying corpses
of children. The hearse or bier may also be made of various designs. When
my new or improved hearse or bier is to be drawn by horse-power a pair
of shafts is substituted for the front removeable handle.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be. understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described and represented in the
Drawing, as the same may be varied without departing, from the nature of
my Invention, but I claim as my Invention a new or improved bearse or bier.

page_text: constructed essentially in the manner herein-before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Millington, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
JOHN JONES,
Oakengates.
JOHN MILLINGTON. (L.S.)