AN IMPROVED WATERPROOF MATERIAL
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Lancaster, of Deptford, in the County of
Kent, Horticulturist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED WATERPROOF
MATERIAL"
Sealed the 25th March 1856, and dated the 4th October 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Lancaster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
October 1855.
I, JOHN LANCASTER, of Deptford, in the County of Kent, Horticulturist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED WATER-
PROOF MATERIAL" to be as follows:-
I manufacture my improved waterproof material in the following manner :-
I weave or plait together strips of wood or scaleboard of suitable length and
width, that is to say. I lay a number of such strips of wood or scaleboard side
by side, so as to form what I may call a warp (having previously saturated the
strips with a solution of gutta percha, or a mixture of tar, lime, and rosin, or
other waterproofing composition), and into and across these strips I weave
or plait, either by hand or by suitable machinery, a number of other strips, so as
to form a weft. I next saturate the fabric thus formed in any of the water-
proofing compositions just mentioned, and pass it through rollers so as to press
the whole together.

page_text: This material is especially applicable as a covering for hot-houses, con-
servatories, &c., as a substitute for felt, and for roofing and covering purposes
generally.
Instead of using single layers or thicknesses of strips, I sometimes weave or
plait them in thicknesses of two or more, either in respect of both the warp
and the weft, or in respect of one or other of them.
5
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Lancaster in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
LANCASTER, of Deptford, in the County of Kent, Horticulturist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Lancaster, Her special licence that I, the said John Lancaster,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Lancaster, 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 "AN IMPROVED WATER-
PROOF MATERIAL," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Lancaster, my executors or administrators, 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 John Lancaster, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 :-
I manufacture my improved waterproof material in the following manner:
I weave or plait together strips of wood, scaleboard, cane split thin, or bamboo,
of suitable length and width, that is to say, I lay a number of such strips of

page_text: wood, scaleboard, or cane side by side, so as to form what I call a warp,
having previously saturated the strips with a solution of caoutchouc, gutta
percha, or a mixture of tar, lime, and rosin (or other waterproofing com-
position), and into and across these strips I weave or plait, either by hand or
I
by suitable machinery, a number of other strips, so as to form a weft.
next saturate the fabric thus formed in any of the waterproofing compositions
just mentioned, and pass it through rollers, so as to press the whole together;
or I make up the strips without first saturating them, and apply the waterproof
composition after the material has been formed or woven, and I apply in some
cases a lining of cotton or other suitable textile fabric on one or both sides of
the material, and cover this with the waterproof composition.
The material is especially applicable as a protecting covering for pits, frames,
hot-houses, conservatories, and other horticultural purposes, and as a substitute
for felt for roofing and covering purposes generally. Instead of using single
layers or thicknesses of strips, I sometimes weave or plait them in thick-
nesses of two or more, either in respect of both the warp and the weft, or in
respect of one or other of them.
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 the improved
waterproof material manufactured in the manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lancaster, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
JOHN LANCASTER. (L.S.)