IMPROVEMENTS IN COFFINS
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
HAGGERSTON LEATHES, of the City of Norwich, Gentleman, and WILLIAM
KIRRAGE, of the same Place, Asphalte Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-fifth day of February (One thousand eight hundred
and forty-three), in the sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto us, the said John Haggerston Leathes and
William Kirrage, our exors, adiñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said John Haggerston Leathes
and William Kirrage, our exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as we,
the said John Haggerston Leathes and William Kirrage, our exors, adñiors,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominioa
of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Invention of certain
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COFFINS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained
a proviso, obliging us, the said John Haggerston Leathes and William Kirrage,
or one of us, to particularly describe and ascertain the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument
in writing under our hands and seals, or hand and seal of one of us, and '
cause the same to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the-said
John Haggerston Leathes and William Kirrage, do hereby declare the nature
of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, and by the Drawing therein referred to and hereunto annexed (that is
to say)
These improvements relate to coffins, and consist in the application of
certain known cements which are impervious to water, and capable of with-
standing the action of vegetable matter and atmospheric influence; and also in
the application of a composition designated asphalte bitumen to a frame or shell
of wood or other suitable material, so as to form a coating therewith on the
inside and outside thereof, or on one side only, the shell or frame being per-
forated with innumerable small holes, so as to form a key to the cement or
composition, the same being applied thereto with a trowel (such as is used
by bricklayers), whilst in a semi-fluid state, produced by heat, and subsequently
dressed with fine sharp sand, which should be previously dyed by boiling in
coal pitch or bitumen; but as the means to be employed for this purpose form
no part of this Invention; which is confined to the application of asplialte
bitumen or cements for the purposes 'above named, it is unnecessary to enter
into any further explanation thereof.
We would here remark; that according to the system of interment hitherto
generally employed, videlicet, coffins constructed of wood only, decomposition
goes on very rapidly, the effluvia arising therefrom rendering the locality of
burial grounds very unhealthy, an objection which is entirely removed by con-
structing coffins in the manner above mentioned (and herein-after fully ex-
plained), whereby dead bodies can be preserved in an apparently perfect state-
above ground or underground for an unlimited number of years, and without
the least exhalation arising therefrom. In order to explain our said improve--
ments as completely as possible, we will proceed to describe the arrangement
of parts which we consider well calculated for carrying out our said Invention,
and which will be found to answer extremely well.
...
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents a horizontal section of a coffin at the line A; B, (Figure
2), with the lid removed, shewing a coating of asphalte bitumen or cement on

page_text: C, D, (Figure 1); Figure 3, a plan view of a coffin having a coating of
asphalte bitumen or cement on one side only of the frame or shell; Figure 4, a
plan view of a coffin having a sheet of plate glass or other transparent substance
cemented on the top thereof, the lid of the coffin having hinges, and a lock and
key for securing the same; Figure 5; an end view of the same, with the lid
thrown back, all the Diagrams being drawn to a scale of about an inch to a
foot. a, a, the shell or frame of wood, upon which the coating of asphalte
bitumen or cement 6, b, is placed, and after lined, as taste may suggest; c, .c,
the lid, which is hermetically sealed to the coffin at *; d, d, brass moulding,
placed at the angles of the coffin, and secured to the frame or shell in any
convenient manner; these mouldings may be varied according to taste, and
any device placed upon the coffin (which we prefer being done previous to
laying on or forming the coating of asphalte bitumen or cement). In Figure 4
e; e, represents a sheet of plate glass or other transparent substance, extending
over the whole length of the coffin, or over a portion thereof, and fixed thereto
so as to be perfectly air-tight, the glass being protected by the lid c, c, which
moves upon hinges, f, f, and is. secured to the coffin by a lock, and key, by
which arrangement persons are enabled to look upon the corpse without
exposing it to the action of the atmosphere. In order that the gases which
would be generated by the body may pass off, so as to prevent bursting of the
coffin, and also to admit of the air being exhausted therefrom, I employ a
valve 9, , situate as shewn, or at any other convenient part of the coffin.
Having now described the nature of this Invention, and the manner-in
which the same is to be performed, we claim, as of our Invention, the applica-
tion of "asphalte bitumen" (such as is used for ordinary purposes) to a shell
or frame of wood or other material, so as to form a coating on the inside and
outside thereof, or on one side only, for the purpose of preserving human
bodies contained therein from rapid decomposition; and although we have
chosen "asphalte bitumen" for such purpose, we do not confine ourselves to
the use of this only, but reserve to ourselves the application of any and every
known cement possessing the properties of resisting the action of vegetable
matter, being impervious to water, and not subject to atmospheric influence,
as herein-before particularly described. And such our Invention being, to the
best of our knowledge and belief, entirely new, and never before used within
that part of Her said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
we hereby declare this to be our Specification of the same, and that we do
verily believe this our said Specification doth comply in all respects fully, and
without reserve or disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part

page_text: recited Letters Patent contained; wherefore, we hereby claim to maintain
exclusive right and privilege to our said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Haggerston Leathes, on behalf of
myself and the said William Kirrage; have hereunto set my hand-and-
seal, this Twenty-third day of August, in the year of our Lord One 5
thousand eight hundred and forty-three.