A NEW METHOD OF PREPARING, DRESSING, AND DRYING SHEEP'S SKINS AND LAMBSKINE, WITH THE WOOL ON, FOR BUGS FOR CARRIAGES ROOMS, AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1823

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
GILL, of Barrowdon, in the County of Rutland, Fellmonger and Parchment
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King George the Fourth, in and by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-fourth day of July, in the fourth year of His reign, for
Himself, His heirs and successors, did give and grant unto me, the said
Richard Gill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, His special licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Richard Gill, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them, by myself and
themselves, or by my and their deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such
others as I, the said Richard Gill, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A NEW METHOD OF PREPARING,
DRESSING, AND DRYING SHEEP'S SKINS AND LAMBSKINE, WITH THE WOOL ON, FOR
BUGS FOR CARRIAGES, ROOMS, AND OTHER PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Richard Gill, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately after

page_text: the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Richard Gill, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by the following
description thereof (that is to say) :-
I wash the skins in a running stream of clear water. After they have been
so washed I take them out of the water, and stretch them in wooden frames.
After that I cleanse the flesh side of the skins from fat and flesh with a knife
used by parchment makers, called a parchment knife, and with a pair of shears
I clip off the superfluous wool from from the edges of the skins, so as to reduce
them to something like shape. After that I place the frames upon tressils
with the flesh side of tho skins upwards. I then lay upon the flesh side a
preparation of shumac and hot water, which is mixed in the proportion of ten
pounds of shumac to ten gallons of water in a copper, in which the water and
shumac are heated until they nearly boil. At the time I lay on this pre-
paration I keep working it all over the flesh sides of the skins with the before-
mentioned knife, until the flesh sides are sufficiently dressed or tanned; -tho
skins are then suffered to remain in the frames until they are dry. After-that
Iplace them again upon tressils with the wool side uppermost, and wash the
wool well with hot water and strong soap. As soon as that is-dono I wash
the soap completely out of the wool with clear cold water. Thus far tho
process applies to skins intended for either white or brown rugs. As to the
skins intended for white rugs only, after they have gone through the process
above described I place the frames containing them in the air, where the
wool and skins can dry, and after they are perfectly dry I put them again
upon tressils, with what I now call the dressed or tanned sides upwards. I then
Jay on the dressed or tanned sides more of the said preparation of shumacand hot
water, which I work all over the skins again with the parchment knife. That
being done, I place the skins under a shed to be dryed by the air.
When they
are perfectly dry I rub the dressed or tanned sides, which I now call the leather
sides, with pummice stone, to take off any rough particles adhering to them.
After that I cut the skins out of the frames in proper shapes, and damp the
wool with cold water slightly coloured with indigo blue, and afterwards hang
the skins in a close room over a pan of burning brimstone for twenty-four
hours, to bleach the wool. After that I comb the wool with a wide-toothed
hair comb. That being done, the white rugs are finished. As to the skins
intended for brown rugs only, after they have gone through the process of
dressing or tanning as above described I take the frames containing them,

page_text: with the wool side downwards, and dip the wool in a copper pan, about ten
inches deep, and rather longer and wider than a full-sized sheepskin, fixed
over a coal fire, and in which pan is, contained a boiling preparation of chipped
dye-woods. This preparation consists of fustic, peachwood, and water, in the
proportion of twenty pounds of fustio, two pounds of peachwood, and ten
gallons of water. The dye-woods I put in the water either when it is cold or
hot, and as soon as the preparation boils it is ready for use.. The dipping of
the wool is repeated until it attains the colour required. By dipping it a
few times it will acquire a sort of an orange colour or bright brown, and by
repeating the dipping darker shades of brown will be produced. After the
wool has undergone the process of dying I wash it in cold water, to take out
the unfixed dye.. I afterwards place the skins in the air to dry, and after
being dryed I put them upon tressils, with the dressed or tanned sides
upwards. I then lay on the dressed or tanned sides more of the said prepa-
ration of shumac and hot water, which I work all over the skins again with
the parchment knife. That being done, I place the skins under a shed to be
dried by the air. When they are perfectly dry I rub the dressed or tanned
sides, which I now call the leather sides, with pummice stone, to take off the
rough particles adhering to them. After that I cut the skins out of the
frames in a proper shape. I then comb the wool with a wide toothed hair
comb; and, that being done, the brown rugs are finished.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twentieth
day of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and twenty-three.
Signed, sealed, and delivered in the
presence of
W HUGHES,
RICH GILL. (L.B.)
Custom House Court,
London.
William Hughes, of Custom House Court, near the Custom House,
London, Gentleman, maketh oath and saith, that he was present on the
Twentieth day of September instant, and did then see Richard Gill, of Bar-
rowdon, in the County of Rutland, Fellmonger and Parchment Manufacturer,
duly sign, seal, and as his act and deed deliver, the Specification or Instru-
ment hereunto annexed, and that the name "Rich Gill," subscribed at the
foot of the said Specification or Instrument as the party executing the same
as aforesaid, is the proper handwriting of the said Richard Gill, and that the

page_text: name "W Hughes," subscribed at the foot of the said Specification or
Instrument as the witness to the execution thereof by the said Richard Gill,
is the proper handwriting of this deponent.
Sworn at the Public Office, in South-
ampton Buildings, the 23rd. day
of September, 1823.
JAS TROWER.
LUCHES.
Inrolled the same Twenty-third day of September, in the year above
"written.