Speaking of patents and Acts of Parliament recalls a note or two which may as well be stated here. In 1676 Samuel Hutchinson, citizen and ironmonger of London, had a patent granted to him for his invention, “a newe way of melting downe leade oare into good and mallyable mettall with minerall coales commly called sea coales and pitt coales, which hath byn approved of by many prsons dealing in leade and other artists.” In 1766 John Purnell, of Froombridge, Gloucester, ironmaster, invented a new machine for making ship-bolts and rods of iron and steel. Between these dates there were several patents granted to ironmongers, but the patents were for numerous inventions quite apart from the trade. We have stated that the Ironmongers are known to have existed many years previous to their incorporation in 1463. Now, according to the ancient City records, called “Liber Horn,” compiled in the reign of Edward I., (and quoted by Stow and others), the “Feroners,” or dealers in iron, about the year 1300 complained to the Mayor (Elias Russel) and the aldermen “for that the smiths of the wealds and other merchants bringing down irons of wheels for carts to the City of London they were much shorter than was anciently, to the great loss and scandal of the whole trade of ironmongers.” Whereupon an inquisition was taken, and three rods of the just length of the strytes, and the length and breadth of the gropes belonging to the wheels of carts were presented and sealed with the City seal. One was deposited in the Chamber of London, Guildhall, and the other two handed to John Dode and Robert Paddington, the ironmongers of the market, and John Wymondham, ironmonger of the Bridge, who were accordingly sworn to oversee for the benefit of the trade, and empowered to seize all unjust and less-sized irons in future. This reference is particularly interesting, for it not only proves the existence of “the trade” at least one hundred and sixty years before the incorporation of the Ironmongers, but gives us an insight into the way complaints were redressed nearly six hundred years ago.