IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLERY AND HARNESS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthias Edward Bowra, of Crayford, in the
County of Kent, India-rubber Manufacturer, residence Peckham,
in the County of Surrey, for, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
Sealed the 5th November 1858, and dated the 5th May 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthias Edward
Bowra at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 5th May 1858.
I, MATTHIAS EDWARD BOWRA, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLERY AND HARNESS" to be as
follows:-
I intend using india-rubber or cooutchouc, cither vulcanized or
otherwise, prepared or not prepared, in combination with canvass or
other woven or textile material or leather, for the purpose of making
saddlery and harness. I propose to cut strips or pieces of the form
I require of caoutchouc, and between two or more such strips or
forms I place the canvass, leather, or other above-mentioned fabric;

page_text: or 1 merely use, when desirable, the single strip or form of caout-
chouc, with one or other of the materials named. I then sew, press,
or otherwise compel the materials used to adhere to each other, and
use the articles, when completed, for traces, straps, bands, scats, or
other portions of saddlery and harness.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Matthias Edward Bowra in the Great Seal
Patent Office, on the 5th November 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
MATTHIAS EDWARD BOWRA, of Crayford, in the County of Kent, India-
rubber Manufacturer, Residence at Peckham, in the County of Surrey,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Matthias Edward Bowra, Her
especial license that I, the said Matthias Edward Bowra, my ex-
ecutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Matthias Edward Bowra, 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, usc, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLERY AND
HARNESS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Matthias
Edward Bowra, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said In-
vention, 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

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Matthias Edward Bowra, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:
.
.
For whatever part of harness or saddlery I make I proceed in the
following manner-I take strips or bands, or pieces cut to the size re-
quired, of canvass, canvass cloth, or similar material; and coat-cach
strip, band, or piece with a solution of india-rubber or of gutta-percha,
or of india-rubber and gutta-percha combined, and having so prepared
these bands or pieces I place them, in layers, or one upon another, to
the required thickness of the trace, rein, saddle flap, or other portion of
saddlery or harness I may wish to manufacture. Having now a solid
and at the same time a somewhat elastic body, I fashion it to the pre-
cise form or shape as the purpose for which it is to be used may
require, covering or coating the whole with a solid gum to form a solid
face, which shall possess the appearance of enamelled leather; or I
use canvass and other material, such as leather, in the following
way I cut the strips or pieces of caoutchouc to the size, or as nearly
as possible to the size required, and between two pieces of caoutchouc
of similar size or shape I place canvass, leather, or canvass prepared as
before stated; or, instead of simple caoutchouc, I use, where desirable,
the vulcanized caoutchouc or india-rubber for the purposes of my
Invention. The harness or parts thereof, or saddlery or parts thereof,
may, when laid or prepared as aforesaid, be compelled to adhere and
form a solid by any suitable means, such as sewing, pressing, or
stamping.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the means
or process by which I carry it into effect, I desire it to be distinctly
understood that I lay no claim to the sole use of any of the articles
mentioned in this Specification when taken separately. But I do claim
them when used in combination in any or either of the modes herein-

page_text: before described for the purpose of making or manufacturing saddlery
or harness.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthias Edward Bowra, have
herein-before affixed my hand and seal, this Fifth day of
November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hun-
dred and fifty-three.
Witness,
MATTHIAS EDWARD BOWRA. (L.S.)
EDWARD WATSON GEDGE,
10, Charles Street,
Seymour Street,
Sommers Town.