William Sugg & Co

Patents & Medals

Throughout William Sugg’s career he spent much of his time on inventions and improvements related to burning gas efficiently. These and many other gas related devices became the subject of patent applications to protect his inventions against the strong competition in the growing world of the Gas Industry.

In the Victorian era the importance of patents was clearly defined by the attachment of a huge wax seal to a beautifully illustrated hand written document on parchment. We are incredibly fortunate that a surprising number of these patents have actually survived into the 21st Century. One of the oldest illustrated here is dated 1869 and thus, at the addition of these images in 2014 is no less than 145 years old.

Many of these patents have been protected by being enclosed within a tin container with the seals further protected in another circular tin. A blue folder carries the description of the patent and a drawing in a similar manner to a patent taken out today. It is the superb parchment with its seal that no longer distinguishes the patent of today. (The pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them and further enlarged by clicking on the symbol in the top right hand corner.)

P1080267 - Version 2 Patant stamps

 

This is the outside of the patent on which the name of the petitioner is written and the document has been signed by the Clerk of the Commissioners as having been produced and registered at the office of the Commissioners on the 16th day of March 1872 and further similarly on 16th day of March 1876.
You can see the metal tin holding the great seal projecting at the top.

P1080261 - Version 2 Seal 2   P1080255 Seal 1

The two pictures above illustrate how the great seal is permanently attached to the parchment.

P1080260 - Version 2 Seal 4   P1080259 - Version 2 Seal 3

These two pictures show the obverse of the great seal and its size – some 6.1/4″ or 160mm.

P1080269 Patent 831A

Above and below are pictures of the same patent with the number 831 and the date 1869 in the top left hand corner with the text granting the patent for a period of fourteen years. The extra sheet folded back that is shown below is dated at the bottom 18th day of March 1869 in the thirty-second year of Our reign.

P1080266 - Version 2 Patent 831 B

The patent specification is set out below along with a drawing to clarify the invention.

P1080271 - Version 2 831 cvr   P1080272 - Version 2 831 P1

P1080273 - Version 2 831 P2   P1080274 - Version 2 831 P3

P1080275 - Version 2 831 P4   P1080276 - Version 2 381 P5

P1080277 - Version 2 381 Drg

 

MEDAL INFORMATION TO FOLLOW!

Currently see Section 2 of History

This photograph shows the collection of medals that were awarded to William Sugg and to his company over years of invention and development at exhibitions all over the world between 1862 and 1937.

Close up of Five Silver Medals won at the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1883

P1080554 - Crystal Palace medal set obverse P1080553 - Crystal Palace medal set front 1883 P1080544 - Crystal Palace 1883 Front P1080546 Crystal Palace 1883 rear P1080547 - Crystal Pal edge B P1080548 - Crystal Pal edge C P1080549 - Crystal Pal edge A P1080550 - Crystal Pal stand on edge

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Site Background & Header

The background to the site is a modern picture of Westminster, the ‘home’ of William Sugg for so many years. It was taken from the roof of The House of Lords during a visit by the Heritage Group of CIBSE in 2004 and centres on Westminster Abbey. The header carries a woodcut of ‘Vincent Works’, the Sugg factory, which might well have been visible from this vantage point. William used this on one of his letter heads. The first and oldest logo also shows the intimate connection with Westminster as it carries the Westminster portcullis with the inscription ‘en avant’ – ‘in advance’. The second logo replaced the earlier one around 1920 and was used right the way through the century until the ‘modern’ era when the ‘flame’ logo was applied to the new era of gas heating equipment with the new factory in Crawley.

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William Sugg & Co