A NEW ARTICLE TO BE CALLED 'TYPHA VELVET,' SUITABLE FOR CARPETS, FURNITURE HANGINGS, WEARING. APPAREL, AND OTHER USEPUL PURPOSES."
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Randal Cresswell, of Conduit Street, Regent Street,
London, Merchant, for the Invention of "A NEW ARTICLE TO BE CALLED
'TYPHA VELVET,' SUITABLE FOR CARPETS, FURNITURE HANGINGS, WEARING.
APPAREL, AND OTHER USEPUL PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Randal Cresswell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th May 1857.
I, RANDAL CRESSWELL, of Conduit Street, Regent Street, London, Merchant,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW ARTICLE TO BE.
CALLED TYPHA VELVET,' SUITABLE FOR CARPETS, FURNITURE HANGINGS, WEARING
APPAREL, AND OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES," to be as follows, that is to say:-
The Invention consists in closely affixing on the surface of cloth, skins, and
other suitable materials, properly prepared and faced with a layer of dissolved
caoutchouc or of some other tenaciously adhering substance as a bond of
union, the silky floral filaments of the plants of the several species of the
family "typha," so that when dry and finished the production will present
"a loose "pile" face resembling velvet, and be suitable for the purposes.
referred to in the title.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance. of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Randal Cresswell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th November 1857..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RANDAL
CRESSWELL, of Conduit Street, Regent Street, London, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Randal Cresswell, Her special licence that I, the said Randal Cresswell,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Randal
Cresswell, 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 "A NEW ARTICLE TO BE
CALLED 'TYPHA VELVET, SUITABLE FOR CARPETS, FURNITURE HANGINGS, WEARING
APPAREL, AND OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Randal Cresswell, 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 Randal Cresswell, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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:
The Invention consists in closely affixing on the surface of cloth, skins, and
other suitable materials, properly prepared and faced with a layer of dissolved
caoutchouc or some other tenaciously adhering substance as a bond of
union, the silky floral filaments of the plants of the several species of the
family typha," so that when dry and finished the production will present
a loose pile face resembling velvet.
The typha is a vegetable production which grows in marshes, ponds, water-
courses, &c., and is commonly found in those places throughout Europe,

page_text: consequently its popular name varies according to the country in which it is
found. In England it is called cat's tail or reed mace.
This family of reeds bears about the upper extremity of the stalk a brilliant
silky down, or filaments strongly resembling the pile of velvet, and it is this
which I employ for giving a velvet-like surface to cloth, leather, skins, and
other suitable material, as may be desired.
The method of procedure adopted to carry out this Invention consists in
first thoroughly and smoothly covering the surface of the material which is to
receive the typha filaments with a solution of caoutchouc or some other
tenaciously adhering substance, which may be done by any of the known
plans in use for similar purposes, and then to place the plucked floral filaments.
of the typha plant, previously selected and arranged side by side in their
upright natural position, on the adhering substance before described, by which,
on drying, they become firmly fixed. The pile is then raised and dressed as
may be required in the usual manner, and the article is then fit for use.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not
claim any of the processes therein referred to; but what I do claim as my
Invention is, the application of the typha silky floral filaments to the purposes
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Randal Cresswell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
R. CRESSWELL. (L.S.)