IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF VELVETS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Shiers, junior, of Oldham, in the County
of Lancaster, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF VELVETS."
Sealed the 12th March 1858, and dated the 15th September 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Shiers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th
September 1857.
I, RICHARD SHIERS, junior, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Manu--
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS.
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF VELVETS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the weaving of silk velvets after the manner of those
which are now manufactured of cotton, that is to say, the weft threads are
floated over the warp so as to form loops, which are subsequently cut or raised,
and consists in the use of silk threads for the warp thereof. I do not, however,
limit myself to the use of silk alone, as a portion of cotton or other material
may be introduced into the said warp.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Shiers in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th March 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
SUIERS, junior, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS .Her, most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of September, 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 Richard Shiers, junior, Her special license that I, the said Richard
Shiers, junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Richard Shiers, junior, 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 "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF VELVETS," upon the condition, amongst
others, that I, the said Richard Shiers, junior, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 Richard Shiers, junior, 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 (that is to say) :-
My Invention relates to the manufacture of silk velvets after the manner
of those which are now manufactured of cotton. According to the usual
method of producing the former of these a series of loops are formed with the
warp by means of wires, which loops are cut 'in order to gain the requiréd
surface; but the latter are produced by floating weft threads across a number
of warp threads, which floatings are subsequently cut. And my improvement
consists in the use of silk threads for the warp of velvets manufactured after
the manner of those as aforesaid, and commonly called "cotton velvets or
tabbies." The method of carrying out the said Invention may be varied by
throwing the weft over different numbers of warp threads, as is now usual in

page_text: the said cotton velvet manufacture, and as the weaving thereof is well under-
stood, it will not be necessary for me to describe the particulars thereof. I
do not limit myself to the use of silk only for the warp, as a portion of cotton
or other material may be introduced; but I claim as my Invention the appli-
cation of silk as warp threads combined with silk weft for manufacturing
velvets of the description above mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Shiers, junior, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
RICH SHIERS, JUNE. (L.S.)