IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOTS, PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE FOR MILITARY PURPOSES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Stokes, of 27, Coventry Street, in the County
of Middlesex, Military Boot Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
Sealed the 12th June 1860, and dated the 16th December 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Stokes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th December 1859.
I, HENRY STOKES, of 27, Coventry Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Military Boot Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOTS, PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE FOR MILITARY PURPOSES," to
be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to make boots in such a manner as to be
worn either in wet or dry weather, and either outside or under the trouser legs,
and to supersede the "Antigropelos" now in use, and is as follows:-I propose
cutting the leather so as to form a "Wellington" boot, but made to open
either in front or at the side or back, and either buttoned, laced, hooked, or

page_text: made with a piece of elastic material or other suitable fastening, so as to
allow the trousers to fit properly beneath the leg of the boot in wet weather.
On each side where the leg of the boot opens is secured a "bellows gusset"
for the purpose of preventing wet or mud entering; this description of boot
being as well adapted for pedestrians as horsemen, and can be worn under the
trouser legs in fine weather.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Stokes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th June 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
STOKES, of 27, Coventry Street, in the County of Middlesex, Military Boot
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of December, 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 Henry Stokes, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
Stokes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Henry Stokes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BOOTS, PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE FOR MILITARY PURPOSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Stokes, 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 Henry Stokes, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say :-
The object of this Invention is to make boots in such a manner as to be
worn either in wet or dry weather, and either outside or under the trouser
legs, and to supersede the "Antigropelos "now in use, and is alike applicable
for pedestrians as horsemen.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Sheet of
Drawings hereto annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference
marked thereon respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the boot as it would appear when fastened
outside the trouser leg for riding in wet weather; Fig. 2, a side elevation as
it would appear when under the trouser leg for walking in fine weather; and
Fig. 3, side elevation as it would appear when opened and about being placed
on the foot. Similar letters of reference denote corresponding parts at each
of the Figures respectively.
The boot may be cut in such a form as to represent a Wellington boot,
having the seam either on the side or back, or it may be blocked out of one
sheet of leather without a seam, but opened either at the front, side, or back;
the side, however, has been found the best in practice, and when on the foot it
is to be fastened either with buttons, laces, hooks, elastic material, or other
convenient method, as may suit the taste of the wearer (Figs. 1 and 3); at
Fig. 3 it will be seen that where buttons are used it will be desirable to have
a double row of button-holes, as when the boot is under the trouser leg it will
wrap over considerably more than when outside the trouser. A gusset piece A
is inserted in the opening of the boot for the purpose of keeping out any wet
or dirt which might otherwise enter.
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Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention of
'Improvements in Boots, particularly applicable for Military Purposes,"
together with the manner in which the same is to be performed, I would
remark, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself to the precise
details herein described and shewn by the accompanying illustrated Sheet of
Drawings, as many slight modifications or variations may be made therein
without in any way departing from the principle of my Invention; but what I

page_text: claim as my Invention intended to be secured to me by the herein in part
recited Letters Patent is, the making of boots in the manner shewn and herein
described, for the purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Stokes, have hereunto set my band
and seal, this Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty.
HENRY STOKES. (L.S.)
Witness,
S. J. WETHERALL,
Clerk to Messrs. Prince & Co.,
Patent Agents, 4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross.