1831.] 



683 



PATENTS FOR MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL INVENTIONS. 



List of Patents sealed in April, 1831. 



To William Dixon, Walsall, Stafford, 

 brass cock founder, for an improvement 

 or improvements on the cock or tap, ap- 

 plicable to fluids, liquids, and gases. 

 21st April ; 6 months. 



To Joshua Taylor Beale, Church- 

 lane, Whitechapel, Middlesex, engineer, 

 for an improvement in certain apparatus, 

 for separating a portion of aqueous va- 

 pour of alcohol in the process of distil- 

 ling and rectifying spirituous liquors. 

 30th April ; 6 months. 



To George Stephenson, Liverpool, 

 civil engineer, for an improvement in 

 the mode of constructing wheels for rail- 

 way carriages. 30th April ; 4 months. 



To William Gutteridge, Clerkenwell, 

 Middlesex, civil engineer, for certain 

 improvements in apparatus for distilling, 

 and other purposes. , 18th May ; 6 

 months. 



To Robert Burton Cooper, Battersea, 

 Surrey, Esq. for an improvement or im- 



provements on a cock or tap applicable 

 to fluids, liquids, and gases, and for ap- 

 plying the said improvement or im- 

 provements to other purposes. 18th 

 May ; 6 months. 



List of Patents which having been granted 

 in the month of June, 1817, expire in 

 the present month of June, 1 83 1 . 



Charles Wyatt, London, for his 

 method of preventing any disadvantageous 

 accumulation of heat in manufacturing 

 sugar. 



Benjamin Ager Day, Birmingham, 

 for his improved chimney ornaments. 



Gabriel Tigere, London, for his im- 

 proved writing paper. 



John Parnall, St. Austell, Corn- 

 wall, for his method of tinning brass, cop- 

 per, or zinc. 



Thomas Whittle and George Ey- 

 toii, Chester, for their improved kiln. 



BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF EMINENT PERSONS. 



WILLIAM HAMPER, ESQ. F.S.A. 



This amiable gentleman and profound 

 antiquary terminated his mortal career 

 on the 2d instant, at Highgate, near 

 Birmingham ; but his name and memory 

 will be perpetuated in the annals of 

 archaeology and topography as long as 

 those branches of literature are studied 

 and admired. Of his talents, and many 

 estimable personal qualities, we can 

 speak from personal knowledge; and 

 with sincere pleasure, but painful feel- 

 ings, we put on record a few facts relat- 

 ing to both. The tenor of his private 

 life was uniformly kind, courteous, and 

 active ; his devotion to those literary 

 studies connected with the topography 

 and antiquities of his own county (War- 

 wickshire) was ardent and indefatigable ; 

 and his willingness to impart information 

 to persons engaged in literary studies 

 was most exemplary. Though much 

 engrossed in one of the Birmingham 

 manufactories, he contrived to appro- 

 priate many hours in the week to his 

 favourite study that of investigating 

 and transcribing the manuscript archives 

 of the kingdom. This pursuit led him 

 to examine many public and private li- 

 braries, and thereby enabled him to amass 

 a large store of materials, illustrative of 

 genealogical history, the manners and 

 customs of our ancestors, and the arts 

 and literature of the olden time. Besides 

 numerous letters of distinguished indivi- 

 duals of different ages, he had collected 

 a series of ancient seals and documents, 



of various kinds ; and, with a neatness 

 and methodical order peculiar to himself, 

 had arranged and classed them with the 

 most scrupulous attention to dates and 

 subjects. In early life, he travelled over 

 most parts of England ; and was inde- 

 fatigable in visiting every object of anti- 

 quity and interest that came within a 

 reasonable distance of his prescribed 

 route. In the punctual execution of 

 business, his course as well as time were 



Erescribed; and, therefore, all hobby- 

 orsical pursuits were necessarily taken 

 from the usual hours of rest and meals. 

 Herein he set an example worthy of imi- 

 tation ; and one that might be honour- 

 ably and usefully adopted by many of 

 the modern " commercial gentlem'en," 

 who are rather too much addicted to the 

 cigar and wine-glass. The Gentleman's 

 Magazine contains numerous scraps of 

 antiquarian information, communicated 

 by Mr. Hamper during his journeys ; 

 and he continued his correspondence 

 with our respected and respectable friend 

 Sylvanus Urban, almost up to the pre- 

 sent time. 



Since he became a member of the So 

 ciety of Antiquaries of London, he wrote 

 several interesting essays for the Archaeo- 

 logia, which are distinguished for inge- 

 nuity of illustration, and a condensed, 

 apposite style. 



Holding a literary correspondence 

 with many of the most distinguished 

 characters of the age, his letters are not 

 only remarkable for the neat and beauti- 



4 S 2 



