A NEW ELASTIC ROD FOR UMBRELLAS, AND OTHER THE LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1826

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GREGORY HANCOCK, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Plated
Beading and Canister Hinge Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-first day of December, in the seventh year of
His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Gregory Hancock, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, Ilis especial
licence that I, the said John Gregory Hancock, my exors, adñiors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Gregory Hancock, my exors, adññiors.
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A NEW ELASTIC ROD FOR
UMBRELLAS, AND OTHER THE LIKE PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso obliging me, the said John Gregory Hancock, 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 per-
formed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court

page_text: of Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Gregory Hancock, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention
to consist in osier twigs, with the pith removed from them, and an elastic
metal bar or wire inserted in its place. And in further compliance with the
said proviso, I, the said John Gregory Hancock, do hereby declare the manner
in which my said Invention is to be performed by the following description
thereof (that is to say):-
Having procured an osier twig and dried and barked the same in the usual
manner, I cut it to the length required, and boro out the pith with an
ordinary boreing bit, and insert in the tube formed by the removal of the pith
a fine bar or wire of steel, or other clastic metallic substance. The rod so
formed is what I claim as my Invention, and may afterwards be planed or
shaved down to any required form, flat or round, as occasion may be. It may
then be dyed, stained, painted, or varnished, according to the purposes for
which it is to be applied, it being equally applicable to whips, sticks, and other
articles of manufacture as to umbrellas. When applied to umbrellas I paint
or varnish the rod to imitate whalebone and rivet a brass umbrella tip at one
end of it. At the other end I let the elastic metallic bar or wire extend
beyond the wood of the tube and flatten the end of it, and bore a hole through
the flattened end by which to affix it to the umbrella frame in the usual
manner.
Now whereas such an elastic rod as aforesaid being, to the best of my know-
ledge and belief, entirely new and never before used within that part of His
said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England,
His said Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby
declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe
this
my said Specification doth comply in all respects fully and without reserve
or disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent contained; wherefore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and
privilege to my said Invention.
.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gregory Hancock, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven.
JOHN GREGORY (L.S.)
(L.B.) HANCOCK.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-second day of January,
in the year of our Lord 1827, the aforesaid John Gregory Hancock came
before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Spe-
cification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven.