AN IMPROVED PENDENT CHILD'S COT
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Guilford Lindsay Molesworth, of 13, Beaufort
Buildings, Strand, London, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PENDENT CHILD'S COT."
Sealed the 30th September 1856, and dated the 19th June 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Guilford Lindsay Moles-
worth at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition;
on the 19th June 1836.
I, GUILFORD LINDSAY MOLESWORTII, of 13, Beaufort Buildings, Strand,
London, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PENDENT CHILD'S COT," to be as
follows:-
My improved pendent cot consists of a stiff frame, of metal or other sub-
stance, which forms the sides of the cot. The body is formed of sacking or
other pliable material, or of cane or wickerwork, and is attached to the sides
bellying down, so as to receive the child. The cot is suspended by means of
cords or lines attached to the frame, so that it can be hung on rings or hooks
in the ceiling, or on the wall, or to the frame, or any convenient part of a bed.
The frame of the cot may be fitted with hinges or joints, so as to fold up for
packing if necessary, and it may be provided with ornamental fringe or net-
work hanging down outside the bed, which may be turned up and fastened to
the lines or cords, so as to form a safety netting. The cords or lines may be

page_text: fitted with swivel safety hooks, so that the cot can be easily hung up and again
taken down. This cot can with the greatest facility be hung or suspended in
any desirable place over or by the side of the mother's bed, so that the child
will constantly be within reach of the mother; the cot is also portable, and
can be carried from one room to another.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Guilford Lindsay Molesworth in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GUILDFORD
LINDSAY MOLESWORTH, of 13, Beaufort Buildings, Strand, London, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord Ono
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Ifer reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Guildford Lindsay Molesworth, Her special licence that I, the said Guildford
Lindsay Molesworth, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Guildford Lindsay Molesworth, 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 Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED PENDENT CHILD'S COT," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Guildford Lindsay Molesworth, 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 Guildford Lindsay Molesworth, 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 (that is to say):-
My improved pendent cot consists of a stiff frame, of metal or other sub-

page_text: stance, which forms the sides of the cot, to which the body holding the bedding
is attached. This body is formed of sacking or other pliable material, or of
cane or wickerwork, bellying down from the frame to receive the child. Lines
or cords are attached to the frame, so that the cot may be hung to or sus-
pended from rings or hooks in the ceiling or on the wall of a room, or from
the frame or any convenient part of a bedstead. I intend to provide the cords
or lines with swivel safety hooks, for. facilitating the hanging up and taking
down of the cot; and I also intend to provide the cot with ornamental fringe
or network hanging down outside the cot, which network may, if desired; be
turned up and fastened to the lines or cords, so as to. form a safety netting.
The frame of the cot may be fitted with hinges or joints, so as to fold up for
packing, if necessary. This cot can with the greatest facility be hung or
suspended in any desirable place over or by the side of the mother's bed, so
that the child will constantly be within reach of the mother or nurse; the cot
is also portable, and can be carried with ease from one room to another.
And.in order that my Invention may be fully understood, I shall now further
describe the same, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings .hereunto
annexed, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts through-
out all the Figures.
b
Fig. 1 represents one of my improved cots, shewn as suspended from a cord
or line attached to a beadstead, or hung from the ceiling of a room. a', a',
represent the eyes, punched or otherwise formed, at the corners of the frame a
(see also Figs. 5 & 6); 6 represents the body or sacking, which laps over and
is secured to the four sides of the frame a; c is the bedding or lining, with
which the body or sacking is covered; and d, d, are the cords or lines, which
are secured to the eyes a', a', of the frame a, and to the ends of which the
swivel safety hooks e, e, are attached. Fig. 2 represents the cot as suspended
from a four-post bed, and the ornamental netting f is shewn as hanging down
round the sides of the cot. Fig. 3 represents the cot as suspended from a half-
tester bed, and the ornamental network is, in this instance, shewn as turned up
and secured to the cords d, d, so as to form a safety netting. Instead of this
safety netting a second frame, similar to the frame a, a, may be placed at a
suitable distance above the frame a, a, and be held in its position by knots in
the cords d, d, whilst the space between the frame a and the second frame
might be covered with netting, sacking, or other suitable material, but I prefer
the use of the ornamental netting, as above described. Fig. 4 represents a cot
hung to a hook in the wall of a room. Fig. 5 represents the frame a in
detail, with the eyes a', a', at the corners, and shewing in dotted lines the
hinges a, a, for folding up the frame; and Fig. 6 represents the frame a

page_text: when folded up. It is evident that the cot may with the greatest ease be
removed from and again hung up to any of the places represented in Figs.
1, 2, 3, & 4 of the Drawing, and that the child may be carried from one room
to another without removing it from the cot.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same may be carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that I
do not claim the use of hammocks of the various forms in which they have
been made; but what I claim as my Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is the pendent cot for children, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Guildford Lindsay Molesworth, havo
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
GUILFORD L. MOLESWORTH. (L.S.)