IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF CANDLES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Abel West, of Wormley Ring, Hoddesdon, in the
County of Hertford, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CANDLES."
Sealed the 12th January 1858, and dated the 28th October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Abel West, at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th October
1857.
I, ABEL WEST, of Wormley Ring, Hoddesdon, in the County of Hertford,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the manufacture of candles from that material or
those materials extracted from vegetable or mineral bodies and called paraffine
and belmontine.
This material or these materials have, when used for making candles, a
tendency to give off smoke, owing to the large proportion of carbon.in their
composition; to obviate this, extremely thin wicks have been employed, which,
though less objectionable in the smaller sized candles, are ill suited for the
larger sized ones.
I have discovered that by using two or more smaller wicks I obtain the
required amount of light, and at the same time avoid the objectionable smoke..

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Abel West in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ABEL
WEST, of Wormley Ring, Hoddesdon, in the County of Hertford, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Abel West, Her special licence that I, the said Abel West,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Abel West, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Abel West, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Abel West, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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 thereof, that is to say:
My Invention relates to the manufacture of candles from that material or
those materials extracted from vegetable or mineral bodies and called paraffine
and belmontine.
This material or these materials have, when used for making candles, a
tendency to give off smoke, owing to the large proportion of carbon in their
composition; to obviate this, extremely thin wicks have been employed, which,
though less objectionable in the smaller sized candles, are ill suited for the
larger sized ones:
I have discovered that by using two or more smaller wicks I obtain the
required amount of light, and at the same time avoid the objectionable smoke.

page_text: Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I will proceed more fully
to describe the manner of performing the same.
In the manufacture of candles called paraffine and belmontine candles it is
found difficult on the one hand to obtain good flames, and on the other hand
that the flames should be free from smoke, and I have discovered that if in
place of using one wick to each candle there be employed two or more wicks
when paraffine is used, that a far better flame free from smoke may be
obtained than has yet been produced in paraffine and belmontine candles.
The description of wicks employed may be varied, and although more than
two wicks may be used in each candle, I prefer to employ plaited wicks, and
two to each candle. In the manufacture of candles composed of paraffine,
four to the lb., which are the description which has heretofore been most com-
monly the size made, I employ in each candle two plaited wicks made of
No. 36 cotton. Each wick is composed of three strands, and each strand
of seven threads.
I would remark that I am aware that in making candles of tallow and also
of some other fatty matters, it has in some cases been usual to employ two or
more wicks in each candle, and I mention this fact in order to state that I do
not claim generally to apply two wicks in a candle when such candles are not
composed of paraffine.
In witness whereof, I, the said Abel West, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
GEORGE ROSE,
Sailor,
No. 19, Brunswick Place North,
Brighton, Sussex.
ABEL WEST. (L.S.)