IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING BOATS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH.” PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Macintosh, of North Bank, Regent's Park, in
the County of Middlesex, and Augustus Henry Thurgar, of Surrey Place,
Norwich, in the County of Norfolk, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PROPELLING BOATS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Macintosh and
Augustus Henry Thurgar at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 21st November 1864.
We, JOHN MACINTOSH, of North Bank, Regent's Park, in the County of
Middlesex, and AUGUSTUS HENRY THURGAR, of Surrey Place, Norwich, in the
County of Norfolk, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING BOATS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH,"
to be as follows:-
Our Invention has for its object improvements in propelling boats, by means
of which the necessity of looking back to see the direction in which the boat
goes is obviated, and consists, firstly, in using two rowlocks or fulcrums on
each side of the boat; secondly, in using jointed oars, the joints of which
work between the said rowlocks or fulcrums, so that in pulling the handles of
the oars towards the stern of the boat, the blades of the oars will be forced
through the water in the same direction as the handles, thereby obviating the
necessity of the rower or rowers turning round; thirdly, the oars are each
made in two parts, and in connecting them together each flange of the

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Macintosh and Augustus Henry-Thurgar in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 17th May 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
MACINTOSH, of North Bank, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex, and
AUGUSTUS HENRY THURGAR, of Surrey Place, Norwich, in the County of
Norfolk, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-ninth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said John Macintosh and Augustus Henry Thurgar, Her special licence
that we, the said John Macintosh and Augustus Henry Thurgar, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Macintosh and
Augustus Henry Thurgar, our 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING BOATS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE-
WITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Macintosh
and Augustus Henry Thurgar, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Macintosh, do hereby declare the
nature of our 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:-
Our Invention has for its object improvements in propelling boats, by means
of which the necessity of looking back to see the direction in which the boat
goes is obviated, and consists, firstly, in using two rowlocks or fulcrums on

page_text: each side of the boat; secondly, in using jointed oars, the joints of which
work between the said rowlocks or fulcrums, so that in pulling the handles of
the oars towards the stern of the boat the blades of the oars will be forced
through the water in the same direction as the handles, thereby obviating the
necessity of the rower or rowers turning round; thirdly, the oars are each
made in two parts, and in connecting them together each flange of the joints
or hinges is fastened securely to each part of the oar, and united together by
a centre pin, thereby forming a hinge, as is well understood.
The rowlocks are attached to the gunwale of the boat, the outer one
projecting (about six inches) from the inner one, and the joint of the oar or
scull working at about the centre between the two rowlocks. The novelty of
the Invention thus lies in the use of two rowlocks to the oar instead of one, as
in the old system. The oar being jointed, the inner rowlock serves as the
fulcrum to the handle of the oar, the joint of the oar between the rowlocks as
the point of opposition, and the outer rowlock as the fulcrum to the blade of
the oar. It follows, therefore, that as the rower pushes the handle of the oar
forwards, the joint between the two rowlocks is thrown back, causing the
blade of the oar to move forwards in the same direction with the handle, and
consequently as the rower pulls the handle back, the blade striking the water
returns in the same direction, propelling the boat forwards.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Macintosh, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
JOHN MACINTOSH. (L.B.)