IMPROVEMENTS IN POSTAGE, REVENUE, AND OTHER STAMPS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR POST- MARKING AND CANCELLING POSTAGE AND OTHER STAMPS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughborough Park,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN POSTAGE, REVENUE, AND OTHER STAMPS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR POST-
MARKING AND CANCELLING POSTAGE AND OTHER STAMPS."-A communication
from abroad by Marcus Porter Norton, residing at Troy, New York, in
the United States of America.
Sealed the 14th July 1863, and dated the 4th February 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson Bous-
field at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 4th February 1863.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in
the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN POSTAGE, REVENUE, AND OTHER STAMPS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR
POST-MARKING AND CANCELLING POSTAGE AND OTHER STAMPS," to be as follows:-
The nature of the first part of the Invention consists in providing a postage,
revenue, or other stamp with perforations across the same, so that it may
readily be separated into two parts, and in covering one part of such stamp
below or above the said perforations with glue or other adhesive matter, while
the remaining part of such stamp shall remain without any adhesive substance
whatever, so that one part of the said stamp shall adhere to the letter,
envelope, or packet, on which the same may by law be required or used for the
payment of postage, tax, or otherwise, while the remaining part shall not so

page_text: adhere, but be free therefrom, whereby that part may be separated from the
other part remaining upon and adhering by means aforesaid to the letter,
envelope, or packet, and thereby cancel the said stamp, and thus and thereby
prevent a re-use of the same for any purpose whatever; by this means also the
labor and expense of cancelling such stamps by any instrument with ink is
saved.
The nature of the second part of the Invention consists in so constructing
apparatus for cancelling stamps that the same shall cut the postage stamp, or
any stamp similar thereto without injury to the contents of the envelope or
packet enclosed therein, and at the same time cause a heavy circular mark
upon the inside, and one upon the outside of that part of the stamp or letter
frank cancelled by the cutting device, so that said postage stamp or letter frank
shall readily show cancellation in ink, and when removed from the letter or
packet on which the same may have been cancelled, it shall be reduced to
parts or pieces, whereby a second use of the said stamp or frank is thus pre-
vented, although it may have been previously cleaned by a chemical or other
process. It also consists in the employment and combination of a cancelling
stamp with a cutting and inking device thereon with a post-marking or
dating stamp, so that the cancelling of the letter frank and the post marking
on the envelope or packet shall be effectually done at the same operation. For
this purpose the post-marking and cancelling stamps are connected side by
side to a bar which has a suitable handle combined with it, the bar has two
short tubes projecting from it, which have screw threads cut in them interiorly,
into these the post-marking and cancelling stamps screw, and when screwed in
they are prevented from unscrewing by a small screw which passes through a
small hole in the bar, and screws into the stamp. The post-marking stamp is
constructed of steel or any material which will answer the purpose, and in the
centre of its face a mortice or opening is formed to receive the type for the
month, the day of the month, and the year; and around it is engraved the name
of the place where it is to be used; the type is held in the central opening by
a screw passing through the side of the stamp. The back of the stamp is
secured to the bar as above described. The cancelling stamp is constructed
of steel, and of a size to correspond to the post-marking or rating stamp, the
back of the stamp is connected to the bar as above described, and on the face
of this cancelling stamp I construct circular knives or cutters, which project
somewhat below the face of the marking or rating stamp so as to give a some-
what harder impression, and in advance of that given by the said stamp,
whereby the postage stamp or frank upon which the same is used is cut
through; the face of the stamp at the same time makes broad dark lines, by

page_text: preference two circles, one on the inside and the other on the outside of the
cutters. That part of this cancelling stamp which makes the said circular
lines is made somewhat below the surface or the immediate edge of the
knives or cutters, and serves as a guide to prevent the knives or cutters from
cutting through the postage stamp or frank and the envelope containing the
same, whereby injury to the letter or contents within the envelope or packet
is prevented, and at the same time makes the aforesaid heavy or dark lines so
as to shew cancellation more readily. The knives or cutters may be made on
a straight line across the face of the cancelling stamp instead of a circular formi,
in which event guards or guides will be constructed upon each side thereof so
as to prevent the said knives or cutters from cutting too deep, and thereby injure
the letter or contents thereof inclosed within the envelope containing the postage
stamp, while at the same time a heavy line or mark in ink may be given by
the guards upon the said postage stamp, thereby shewing the cancellation
readily. Any number required of the said knives or cutters may be used for
cutting the said postage stamp. The cross piece or bar to which the post
marking and cancelling stamps are attached is made of iron or steel, and in
width the same as the diameter of the said stamps, and of any thickness
required, and projecting from the back of the bar is a screw bolt or stem,
which is screwed into a wooden or other suitable handle. In place of the
cancelling stamp being constructed of steel in the manner above described, it
may be made of wood, cork, or similar material formed to any suitable device,
the wood or other material being inserted in a tube fixed to the bar to which
the post-marking stamp is attached. A cancelling stamp thus constructed
may be used alone when it is not required to use a post-marking stamp with
it. A cancelling stamp thus constructed may also have combined with it a
tubular cutter or punch, so that the portions cut by the punch may pass away
through the tube; for this purpose the tube which forms the punch passes up
through the centre of the stamp, and also through the bar which carries it; on
the exterior of the upper portion of the tube a screw thread is cut which screws
into a female screw in the bar or in the stamp, so that the lower end of the
tube which forms the punch may be made to protrude to any desired distance
beyond the face of the cutter.
The Invention also consists in constructing a cancelling stamp suitable for
being used by a bank or a company, and for other uses, in the following
manner:-The stamp is composed of any suitable printing or marking device,
together with cutters or knives placed between type for the month, day of the
month, and year, and outside of the same. In using this stamp for cancelling
the stamp upon any check, draft, or other paper or document, the name of any

page_text: bank, corporation, company, or person, together with the month, day of the
month, and year, will be stamped upon it, and at the same time and operation
such stamp, and the check, note, draft, or other packet on which said stamp may
be used, will be cancelled by cutting both through such stamp, and the paper,
or packet by means of one or more of the knives or cutters. The knives or
cutters are made of steel, and, are, as above stated, placed between the type.
for the month, day of the month, and year, and on the outside of the same;.
the type and cutters are placed in a mortice or opening in the centre of the
marking stamp, and are properly adjusted to its face or printing surface, and
are firmly held in the mortice by means of a screw passing through the side of
the stamp. This marking and cancelling stamp may also be used for post
offices, in which case the name of the post office where used would be stamped
by it upon the postage stamp or letter frank in part or in whole, while thus
at the same time the said stamp or letter frank would be cancelled by the
said cutters or knives in a permanent and successful manner, whereby there.
could be no second or re-use of the same.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th August 1863.
TO. ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL, COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the County of
Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth, day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Tomlinson Bousfield,, Her, special licence that I,, the said
George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or, such
others as. I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN POSTAGE, REVENUE, AND OTHER STAMPS, AND, IN
APPARATUS FOR POST-MARKING, AND CANCELLING POSTAGE AND OTHER STAMPS," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Marcus Porter Norton, a person resident at

page_text: Troy, New York, in the United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 George Tomlinson Bousfield, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say
The nature of the first part of the Invention consists in providing a postage,
revenue, or other stamp, with perforations across the same so that it may
readily be separated into two parts, and in covering one part of such stamp
below or above the said perforations with glue or other adhesive matter, while
the remaining part of such stamp shall remain without any adhesive substance
whatever, so that one part of the said stamp shall adhere to the letter, envelope,
or packet on which the same may by law be required or used for the payment
of postage, tax, or otherwise, while the remaining part shall not so adhere,
but be free therefrom, whereby that part may be separated from the other part
remaining upon and adhering by means aforesaid to the letter, envelope, or
packet, and thereby cancel the said stamp, and thus and thereby prevent a
re-use of the same for any purpose whatever; by this means also the labour and
expense of cancelling such stamps by any instrument with ink is saved.
Figure 1 shews a face view of a postage stamp made as above described;
Figure 2 is a back view of the same. a, a, is the line of perforations made
across the stamp: this is done at the same time that the lines of perforations
are made between the stamps to enable them to be separated one from another,
a sheet of stamps similar the one to the other being by preference made at
one time, as is usual; 6 is the half of the stamp upon which glue or other
adhesive substance is spread; c is the half of the stamp that has no adhesive
substance applied to it. Figure 3 shews the back of a postage envelope with
the part of a stamp, such as is shewn at Figures 1 and 2, adhering to it,
and it is in this state that the envelope is be delivered to the person to whom
it is directed, the portion c of the stamp having been removed at the post
office, aud the stamp thereby cancelled. The person receiving the letter
will thus only receive half of the stamp, so that the stamp could in
no case be re-used. Stamps for other purposes, may be made. in a similar
manner.

page_text: The nature of the second part of the Invention consists in so constructing
apparatus for cancelling stamps that the same shall cut the postage stamp or
any stamp similar thereto without injury to the contents of the envelope or
packet enclosed therein, and at the same time cause a heavy circular mark
upon the inside and one upon the outside of that part of the stamp or letter
frank cancelled by the cutting device, so that said postage stamp or letter
frank shall readily shew cancellation in ink, and when removed from the
letter or packet on which the same may have been cancelled it shall be reduced
to parts or pieces, whereby a second use of the said stamp or frank is thus
prevented, although it may have been previously cleaned by a chemical or
other process. A stamp constructed in this way is shewn at Figures 4, 5,
and 6, which will be presently described. It also consists in the employment and
combination of a cancelling stamp with a cutting and inking device thereon,
with a post-marking or dating stamp, so that the cancelling of the letter
frank and the post-marking on the envelope or packet shall be effectually done
at the same operation. For this purpose the post-marking and cancelling
stamps are connected side by side to a bar which has a suitable handle com-
bined with it, the bar has two short tubes projecting from it which have screw
threads cut in them interiorly, into these the post-marking and cancelling stamps
and when screwed in they are prevented from unscrewing by a small
screw which passes through a small hole in the bar and screws into the stamp.
The post-marking stamp is constructed of steel or any material which will
answer the purpose, and in the centre of its face a mortice or opening is
formed to receive the type for the month, the day of the month, and the year,
and around it is engraved the name of the place where it is to be used; the
type is held in the central opening by a screw passing through the side of the
stamp. The back of the stamp is secured to the bar, as above described.
The cancelling stamp is constructed of steel, and of a size to correspond to the
post-marking or rating stamp; the back of the stamp is connected to the bar,
as above described, and on the face of this cancelling stamp I construct
circular knives or cutters, such as are shewn at Figure 6, which project some-
what below the face of the marking or rating stamp, so as to give a somewhat
harder impression, and in advance of that given by the said stamp, whereby
the postage stamp or frank upon which the same is used is cut through; the
face of the stamp at the same time makes broad dark lines, by preference, two
circles, one on the inside and the other on the outside of the cutters.
part of this cancelling stamp which makes the said circular lines is made some-
what below the surface or the immediate edge of the knives or cutters, and
serves as a guide to prevent the knives or cutters from cutting through the
screw,
That

page_text: postage stamp or frank and the envelope containing the same, whereby injury
to the letter or contents within the envelope or packet is prevented, and at the
same time makes the aforesaid heavy or dark lines so as to shew cancellation
more readily. The knives or cutters may be made on a straight line across
the face of the cancelling stamp, similar to those shewn at Figure 7, instead of
a circular form, in which event guards or guides will be constructed upon each
side thereof, so as to prevent the said knives or cutters from cutting too deep,
and thereby injure the letter or contents thereof inclosed within the envelope
containing the postage stamp, while at the same time a heavy line or mark in
ink may be given by the guards upon the said postage stamp, thereby shewing
the cancellation readily. Any number required of the said knives or cutters
may be used for cutting the said postage stamp. The cross piece or bar to
which the post-marking and cancelling stamps are attached is made of iron or
steel, and in width the same as the diameter of the said stamps, and of any
thickness required, and projecting from the back of the bar is a screw bolt or
stem, which is screwed into a wooden or other suitable handle. In place of
the cancelling stamp being constructed of steel in the manner above described,
it may be made of wood, cork, or similar material, formed to any suitable
device, the wood or other material being inserted in a tube fixed to the bar
to which the post-marking stamp is attached.
Figure 4 shews a side view, and Figure 5 a vertical section, of a stamp
arranged as above described; Figures 6 and 7 are face views, shewing the
post-marking stamp ready for use; Figures 8 and 9 shew sections of marking
and cancelling devices; and Figures 8¹ and 10 are face views of the same.
In these Figures d is the post-marking stamp, constructed of any suitable
material; e is the mortice or recess, of suitable dimensions to receive the
type for the month, day of the month, and the year, around which is the
name of the place where used; f is the cancelling stamp, constructed of
any suitable material, and of a size to correspond with the stamp d; g is the
tube or recess in the stamp f for receiving the blotting or cancelling device h,
which device is either made of steel, or it may, as before stated, be made of
wood, cork, rubber, or similar material. The face of this device may contain
a plan or form, such as is shewn at Figure 10, for cancelling with indelible
ink, or any other plan or forın may be employed. The cancelling device h
may project somewhat. below the lower end of the tube g, and may also project
below the face of the post-marking or rating stamp d, and it may be driven
out of the said tube or recess by means of a pin or bolt operating through the
hole i, for the purpose of repairs or to replace a new one. The tube or recess g
may be of any diameter and of any depth desired. A cancelling stamp thus

page_text: constructed may be used alone when it is not required to use a post-marking
stamp with it. A cancelling stamp thus constructed may also have combined
with it a tubular cutter or punch, so that the portions cut by the punch may
pass away through the tube; for this purpose the tube which forms the punch
-passes up through the centre of the stamp, and also through the bar which,
carries it; on the exterior of the upper portion of the tube a screw thread is
cut, which screws into a female screw in the bar or in the stamp, so that the
lower end of the tube which forms the punch may be made to protrude to any
:desired distance beyond the face of the cutter; a stamp constructed in this
manner is shewn at Figures 11, 12, and 13.
Figure 11 shews a vertical section of a cancelling stamp constructed as
above described; Figure 12 shews a face view of the same; and Figure 13
shews a section of the punch or cutter which passes through the centre of the
stamp separately.
I construct the punch or cutters of steel or suitable material of a tubular
form, as shewn at Figure 13, which tube is to allow the material cut by the
-punch or cutter 8, and entering therein to pass up through the same, and thereby
prevent said punch or cutter from clogging, whereby the same is always free
to operate. Upon this punch or cutter I construct the screw x, which screw
takes into a corresponding female screw formed in the cross piece b or cancel-
'ling stamp c. This screw is for the purpose of regulating the depth desired
to be cut by the said punch or cutters. This punch or cutter may be of any
diameter desired; it passes through the said cross piece b and the upper part
of the said cancelling stamp c, also through the cock or rubber type f¹, at or
near to its centre, as shewn at Figures 11 and 12; it operates in connection
with the said cork type f¹, as shewn. The said punch or cutter cuts the letter
stamp or frank so as to correspond thereto, while at the same time the cork or
rubber type f¹ will give an impression in indelible or other ink on the said
letter stamp or frank, whereby the cutting and inking are done at one and the
same time and operation. The said punch or cutter being regulated by the
.said screw thereon, is prevented injuring the letters by being governed in depth
of cutting and operating in connection with the said type f¹, as aforesaid.
w, w, Figure 13, shew the sides of the said punch or cutter s, the same being
in a vertical line through the centre thereof.
The Invention also consists in constructing a cancelling stamp suitable for
being used by a bank or a company and for other uses in the following
manner: The stamp is composed of any suitable printing or marking device,
together with cutters or knives placed between type, for the month, day of the
month, and year, and outside of the same. In using this stamp for cancelling

page_text: the stamp upon any check, draft, or other paper or document, the name of
any bank, corporation, company, or person, together with the month, day of
the month, and year, will be stamped upon it, and at the same time and
operation such stamp and the check, note, draft, or other packet on which
said stamp may be used will be cancelled by cutting both through such stamp
and the paper or packet by means of one or more of the knives or cutters.
The knives or cutters are made of steel, and are, as above stated, placed
between the type for the month, day of the month, and year, and on the
outside of the same the type and cutters are placed in a mortice or opening in
the centre of the marking stamp, and are properly adjusted to its face or
printing surface, and are firmly held in the mortice by means of a screw
passing through the side of the stamp. This marking and cancelling stamp
may also be used for post offices, in which case the name of the post office.
where used would be stamped by it upon the postage stamp or letter frank in
part or in whole, while thus at the same time the said stamp or letter frank
would be cancelled by the said cutters or knives in a permanent and successful
manner, whereby there could be no second or re-use of the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
CEO TROUSFIELD
Gal