Great Britain. Patent Office, Patent no. 2861, issued to Josiah Turner, for improvements in velocipedes, 1877 July 26
- Title(s):
- Patent no. 2861, issued to Josiah Turner, for improvements in velocipedes.
- Published/Created:
- Great Britain, 1877 July 26.
- Physical Description:
- 1 sheet ; 52 x 78 cm, folded to 19 x 27 cm, in box 22 x 30 x 6 cm and 1 wax seal ; 16 cm in diameter
- Holdings:
- Rare Books and ManuscriptsHE5739.G74 T8 1877 Flat AYale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund[Request]
- Copyright Status:
- Copyright Not Evaluated
- Full Orbis Record:
- http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/12750897
- Classification:
- Books
- Notes:
- Beginning in the 1860s, Josiah Turner was partner or manager of a series of sewing machine companies based in Coventry, known variously as the European Sewing Machine Company, the Coventry Sewing Machine Company, and the Coventry Machinists Company. Beginning in 1868, alongside the inventor James Starley (who is credited with founding the bicycle industry in Great Britain), Turner began manufacturing velocipedes inspired by French designs. Turner continued to patent bicycle innovations up until 1880. See: Grace's Guide to British Industrial History.
Patent, no. 2861, completed in manuscript, for "improvements to velocipedes" granted to Josiah Turner, "manager of the Coventry Machinists Company, Coventry, in the county of Warkwick." Glen Norcliffe identifies the improvements as "training wheels for an ordinary bicycle" (see: Norcliffe, G.B. Critical geographies of cycling. Burlington, VT : Ashgate Publishing Company, [2015]).
The document is printed on vellum, with manuscript text completed in black ink. In the top left corner is the original blue paper revenue stamp for five pounds. Attached to the foot of the document by red plaited cords is a double-sided yellow wax seal measuring 16 cm in diameter, housed in a black tin canister. On one side, the seal bears the Great Seal of the Realm; on the other, Queen Victoria seated on a fully caparisoned royal horse.The document and seal are enclosed in leather-covered wooden box, gilt-stamped: Her Majesty's patent. The box is tooled in gilt, with green paper liner and a working slide lock mechanism to front.
The patent was valid in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Wight, with the condition that the stamp duty of fifty pounds was paid, and one year later, another one hundred pounds. - Subject Terms:
- Bicycle industry -- Great Britain -- Patents.Bicycles -- Great Britain -- History.Coventry Machinists Company (Coventry, England)Training wheels.Turner, Josiah, -1886.
- Form/Genre:
- Patents.
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