AN IMPROVED QUILT OR COVERLID
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Lawes, of 32, City Road, St. Luke's,
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED QUILT
OR COVERLID."
Sealed the 30th March 1853, and dated the 1st October 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Lawes at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 1st October 1852.
I, THOMAS LAWES, of No. 32, City Road, County of Middlesex,
Feather Dealer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED QUILT OR COVERLID," to be as follows, namely:-
The manner of making and filling the same. The manner in
which the quilt or coverlid is made is by quilting the outer material
in stripes or rows, as shewn in Drawing at A, and leaving those stripes
or rows open at each end, as shewn in section B, to be afterwards filled

page_text: with any proper material. The material I use consists of the strippings
taken from the most downy part of feathers, and totally freed from
stalks or stems.
These quilts can be emptied for the purpose of washing, and after-
wards refilled without taking to pieces, and at a very trifling expence.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,'
filed by the said Thomas Lawes in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 1st April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS .SHALL COME, I,
THOMAS LAWES, of 32, City Road, St. Luke's, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Feather Dealer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Thomas Lawes, Her special licence that I, the
said Thomas Lawes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Thomas Lawes, 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 *(and Her Majesty's Colonies,) "AN IMPROVED"
QUILT OR COVERLID," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Lawes, by an Instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, 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.
KNOW NOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Lawes, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by.
the following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, & to the letters & figures niarked thereon (that
is to say):
My improvements refer to quilts formed by enclosing feathers or
other materials in a suitable fabric, and consists in so stuffing or filling

page_text: the same so that they may be readily taken to pieces for cleaning
the same.
I make this quilt or coverlid by quilting or stitching the outer
material together in strips or rows running the whole length of the
coverlid parallel to each other, as shown in the Drawing, and which
may consist of a fabric more or less ornamental.
Figure 1, A, A. These stitches or quilting must be made at suitable
distances from each other so as to leave a proper space between
them for filling according to the quantity of feathers or other material
required to produce the necessary warmth from the coverlid. The
distance between the said rows of stitches are seen at B, B, from
hollow spaces or bags, into each of which the material used is put in
equal and sufficient quantities to make the quilt or coverlid the
required weight. The ends of the said rows of bags are left open for
that purpose, and after filling closed by sewing in the usual manner.
Figure 2, shows a section of the open ends of the said filling spaces.
The material used for making these coverlids may be filled direct into
the spaces B, B, formed in the covering of the same as aforesaid for
that purpose, or it may be first filled into bags of calico or other
suitable materials made separate, as shewn in the Drawing.
Figure 3, C, D, of the width and length to fit the said filling
spaces B, B, and when, so made of the suitable size, and filled with
feathers or other materials, the ends may be closed, and the bags thus
made and filled may be drawn into and fill up the said space B, B;
both of these systems of filling might be used with advantage, and in
either case the quilts may be emptied of their contents for the purpose
of washing or cleaning the covering. The quilt may thus be taken to
pieces, cleaned, and refilled, with little trouble and expence. I find
the use of separate bags containing the feather to be the best, as they
will effectually prevent the feathers from working through, and may be
taken out for the purpose of washing or new covering in a very short
space of time, without any annoyance from the material flying about,
and making the room dusty or dirty. These coverlids may be made
of any suitable material, but that which I have hitherto found to be
the most appropriate consists-of-strippings taken from the most downy
parts of feathers, free from stalks and stems.

page_text: I am aware that feathers have been used heretofore in quilts or
coverlids, but so enclosed that it is difficult and scarcely possible to
clean such quilts with advantage. And I would have it understood
that what I claim as my Invention is, enclosing the feathers or other
stuffing material in such manner, and in spaces from which it be
readily removed, substantially as herein-before described.
may
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Lawes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of April, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.
THOMAS LAWES. (L.S.)