Richard Arkwright
 |
Richard Arkwright |
Sir
Richard Arkwright (
23 December 1732 –
3 August 1792) was an
Englishman credited with the
spinning frame — later renamed the
water frame following the transition to
water power. The spinning frame - a quantum-leap forward from the
spinning jenny of
James Hargreaves – was developed in
1769, and the world's first water-powered
cotton mill was built in
1771 at
Cromford,
Derbyshire, (now one of the
Derwent Valley Mills) creating one of the catalysts for the
Industrial Revolution. He was
knighted in
1786.
He was born in 1732 in
Preston in the county of
Lancashire,
England and was the youngest of thirteen children. He worked as a
barber until he was twenty-eight years old, he then became a dealer in
hair, and made money developing waterproof
dye for use on wigs in the town of
Bolton, Lancashire. He used his money to finance his early work on textile machinery.
In
1768, he worked with a Warrington clockmaker called
John Kay (not the
John Kay who invented the
flying shuttle) to make a cotton-spinning frame. Kay himself had previously assisted a Leigh reed-maker named Thomas Highs [
1], and there is strong evidence to support the claim that it was Highs, and not Arkwright, who invented the spinning frame. However, Highs was unable to patent or develop the idea for lack of finance.Highs, who was also credited with inventing a Spinning Jenny several years before James Hargreaves produced his, probably got the idea for the Spinning Frame from the work of John Wyatt and Lewis Paul in the 1730s and 40s.
The machine used a succession of rollers rotating at increasingly higher speeds to draw out the roving, before applying the twist via a bobbin-and-flyer mechanism. It could make
cotton thread thin and strong enough for the
warp, or long threads, of
cloth. Arkwright moved to Nottingham, formed a partnership with local businessmen Jedediah Strutt and Samuel Need, and set up a mill powered by horses. But in 1771, he converted to water power and built a new mill in the Derbyshire village of Cromford.
It soon became apparent that the tiny village would not be able to provide enough workers for his mill. So he built a large number of terraced cottages near the mill and imported workers from outside the area. He also built the Greyhound public house which still stands in Cromford market square.
Arkwright encouraged weavers with large families to move to Cromford. He also allowed them a week's holiday a year. However, this came on condition that they couldn't leave the village. Later in life, he taught himself the simple branches of education.
Arkwright had patented the Water Frame in 1769 but in 1775, he took out another patent, this time for the complete process of cotton-thread production. In doing so, he attempted to extend the Water Frame patent by describing it as a new machine called a Roving Frame which performed a different part of the spinning process.
The 1775 patent sparked a major war between Arkwright and other cotton manufacturers, who were well aware of the question-mark over his claim to have invented the machinery.
A series of court cases followed as Arkwright attempted to prosecute rivals who had infringed his patents, and it all culminated in an action brought by The Crown in 1785. A series of witnesses - including Thomas Highs - testified that Arkwright had systematically stolen their ideas.The result was that the patents were revoked and, when Arkwright appealed, the judge, Mr Justice Buller, insisted: "...the defendant had not a leg to stand upon."
The decision, however, had no material effect on Arkwright's prosperity. He was knighted in 1786, and died one of the richest men in
England.
*Arkwright's barber shop in Churchgate, Bolton, was demolished early in the last century. There is a small plaque above the door of the building that replaced it, recording Arkwright's occupancy.
Sir Richard Arkwright lived at Rock House in Cromford, opposite his original mill, but in 1788 he purchased an estate from
Florence Nightingale`s father, William for £20,000 and set about building Willersley Castle for himself and his family. However just as the building was completed it was destroyed by fire, and Arkwright was forced to wait a further two years whilst it was rebuilt. But he died, aged 60 and never lived in the castle which was only completed after his death.
*
Timeline of clothing and textiles technology*
Essay from http://www.cottontown.org on Arkwright and the Water Frame.
*
Essay from http://www.cottontimes.co.uk/
