A FOUR-WHEELED SAFETY SOCIABLE CARRIAGE
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William White, of No. 34, North Audley Street,
Grosvenor Square, for the Invention of "A FOUR-WHEELED SAFETY SOCIABLE
CARRIAGE."
Sealed the 7th February 1860, and dated the 11th August 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William White at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th August 1859.
I, WILLIAM WHITE, of 34, North Audley Street, Grosvenor Square, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A FOUR-WHEELED SAFETY
SOCIABLE CARRIAGE," to be as follows:→
To be built to contain nine persons, or eight passengers or persons and the
driver, constructed to have six separate entrances, with a roof which would
admit, by its construction, of the carriage being used in all weathers and at all
seasons, either as an open or closed carriage. The height of the floor of the
carriage to be about two feet one or two inches from the ground. The height
of the seats to be about three feet seven or eight inches from the ground. The
height of the body of the carriage to be about four feet nine or ten inches from
the ground. The height of the front wheels to be about two feet. The
height of the hind wheels to be about three feet three inches. The total
length of the carriage to be about nine feet, or to the tip of the hind wheel
about nine feet and a half. The total width about from five feet to five feet
The height of the carriage from its floor to
six inches from wheel to wheel.

page_text: the roof about five feet eleven inches. The total height from the ground to
the roof to be about eight feet. To be built in various styles to admit of
being used as a stage carriage, a hackney carriage, a carriage for hire, and a
carriage to be purchased for private use.
The above carriage will be capable of being drawn by either one or two
horses, and it is to be understood that the Patentee in the above estimated
measurements leaves himself a margin of a few inches more or less either way
to admit of the necessary corrections either in the working Drawings or the
building.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William White in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th February 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WHITE, of No. 34, North Audley Street, Grosvenor Square, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did; for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William White, Her special license that I, the said William
White, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William White, 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 "A FOUR-
WHEELED SAFETY SOCIABLE CARRIAGE," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William White, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument 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 William White, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-

page_text: My Invention consists, firstly, in recessing the hind part of the carriage,
so that the wheels are brought in the same plane as the sides, thus facilitating
the ingress and egress of passengers and lessening the danger from accidents.
Secondly, in employing moveable partitions sliding in grooves or recesses in
the back of the seat, so that when desired one or more separate compartments
or divisions may be readily contrived, a window or curtain being added or
suspended from the roof of the carriage completes the division.'
Thirdly, in making the sides of the carriage moveable, so that either
windows or curtains may be used, thus making it either an open or closed
conveyance.
Fourthly, in making the seats to the front facing the back of the driver,
and in causing the doors to open in opposite directions to each other for the
purpose of making one step on each side suffice for two entrances.
And fifthly, in constructing a boot under the carriage, and another at the
end with lids, doors, &c., to the same.
These improvements will be clearly understood by reference to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal elevation of one
of my improved carriages; Fig. 2 an internal plan of the same, shewing these
seats extending across; Fig. 3 a vertical elevation of the back; and Fig. 4 a
transverse section shewing one of the moveable partitions.
The carriage may be constructed of any convenient size, and drawn by one
or more horses. The back a and the roof b are fixtures, but the sides care
portable, and formed so that windows, shutters, or curtains may be used, thus
making an open or closed carriage at pleasure. The back is entirely shut,
and furnished with the windows d, and the ventilators e. The carriage is divided
into three compartments, the partitions or blinds being built in the roof or
rising from the body f of the carriage, thus one, two, or three rooms can be
arranged as desired. The seats 9 are placed transversely across the carriage,
so that the passengers when riding face the horse, and the seat of the front
compartment is raised in the centre for the driver, which will admit of one or
two passengers on each side of him, there being six distinct entrances, three
on each side. The doors h open in opposite directions, so that one set of steps
on each side will be sufficient; which steps I also make in the same plane as
the sides of the carriage. The wheels are also in the same plane at the sides
of the carriage, the hind wheels i working under the recess k in the hinder
part of the body. The boot 6 commences under the back seat of the carriage,
and extends to the back of the body, and when desired there can be boots or
boxes under the seats all furnished with lids, doors, and other requirements.
The two front seats having lockers, but leaving an open space to receive the

page_text: feet of those persons sitting behind. The roof of the carriage may be fur-
nished with curtains placed along the edge to admit of being open or closed
as required. In Fig. 1, one of the partitions is shewn at m, raised from a
groove behind the seat so as to form a back, the curtain n completing the
division; but another half of the partition may descend from the roof instead
of employing a curtain.
The aforesaid arrangements may be varied in a number of ways, and the
carriages built in different styles so as to be adapted for stage and hackney
coaches, or carriages of luxury.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly
understood that I do not claim any of the particular parts herein described
separately, but I claim the general arrangement and construction of carriages
as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William White, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Third day of February, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named William White, in
the presence of
ALFRED WHITE.
WILLIAM WHITE. (L.S.)