IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND VESSELS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Walmsley Lawson, of Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster, Steam Ship Broker, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND VESSELS."
Sealed the 18th February 1868, and dated the 22nd August 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Walmsley Lawson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd August 1867.
I, THOMAS WALMSLEY LAWSON, of Liverpool, in the County of Lan-
caster, Steam Ship Broker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND VESSELS," to be as
follows:-
"
My Invention consists in constructing the bottom of ships and vessels
concave longitudinally, the concavity extending the length of the flooring,
admitting at the same time of a fine run and entrance. By means of
Invention I diminish the draught, add to the stability, and increase the
weatherly qualities of the vessel.
my

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Walmsley Lawson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 22nd February 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WALMSLEY LAWSON, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Steam Ship
Broker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Walmsley Lawson, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Walmsley Lawson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
1, the said Thomas Walmsley Lawson, 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 CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Thomas Walmsley Lawson, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 Thomas Walmsley Lawson, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in constructing the bottom of ships and vessels
concave longitudinally, the concavity extending only to where the floors begin
to rise at each end, thus admitting at the same time of a fine run and
entrance.
The accompanying Drawings or Diagrams represent a ship of, say, 145
feet in length, 26 feet in breadth, and having 17 feet depth of hold, con-
structed according to my Invention.
a is the concave bottom, the concavity extending the length of the

page_text: flooring to where the floors begin to rise, when it dies off and gives & long flat
floor to the two extreme ends which admit of being drawn into fine lines or
otherwise to suit requirement. The ends of the arc forming the concave
constitute bilge keelsons, as seen at b, b. The ship may be constructed with
a central or ordinary keel if desired in addition to these bilge keelsons. By
means of my Invention I diminish the draught, add to the stability, and
increase the weatherly qualities of the vessel.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim constructing ships
and vessels with bottoms concave longitudinally, the concavity extending only
to where the floors begin to rise at each end, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Walmsley Lawson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of February, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-eight.
T. W. LAWSON. (L.S.)