AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Fletcher Coles, of 61, Paul Street, Finsbury,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS
AND SHOES."
Scaled the 28th December 1855, and dated the 30th July 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Fletcher Coles at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th July 1855.
I, WILLIAM FLETCHER COLES, of 61, Paul Street, Finsbury, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF BOOTS AND SHOES" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of applying a lining of thin sheet cork between
the ordinary interior lining and the interior surface of the "
boot or shoe.
upper" of a

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Fletcher Coles in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th January 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I. WILLIAM
FLETCHER COLES, of 61, Paul Street, Finsbury, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Fletcher Coles, Her special licence that I, the said William Fletcher
Coles, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Fletcher Coles, 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 "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Fletcher Coles, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Fletcher Coles, 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
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention consists of applying a lining of thin sheet cork between
the ordinary interior lining and the interior surface of the "upper" of a
boot or shoe.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the manner which I prefer
of performing the same.
I take thin sheets of cork, say, about Toth of an inch in thickness, and cut
therefrom linings suitable in shape for the description of boots or shoes to be
made, and I cement on to the pieces of cork so cut, pieces of cotton, net, or
other thin fabric, by means of weak india-rubber cement, which I spread on

page_text: the sheets of cork and not on the fabric, so that when using close fabrics they
may not become waterproofed; and I leave edges of fabric all round the cork,
by means of which I join the parts of the lining together at the points required,
and for this purpose I also employ india-rubber cement. I make up the shoes
and boots with these linings in the usual manner, except that I employ in
addition to the cork lining an ordinary fabric lining, and I place the cork lining
between the ordinary interior lining and the interior surface of the upper
the boot or shoc.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Fletcher Coles, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
JNO. ALCOCK.
WILLIAM FLETCHER COLES. (L.S.)