Early Inventions in the British Textile Industry

Charles “Turnip” Townshend

Robert Bakewell, Selective Breeding 1710- 370 lbs 30 lbs 1800- 769 lbs 80 lbs

The Industrial Revolution... The shift from an agrarian, hand-made, labor-intensive economy to a machine- made, labor-specialization economy. 1750 in England

Industrial Revolution in perspective: Transformation of every facet of society; Accelerated the pace of modernization Increased the size and importance of the middle class Created a new-”working” class Became a force for democracy Hastened the secularization of European life Changed the geography of global interaction Made possible the highest standard of living in human history

A traditional spinning wheel

The “putting-out” system- early capitalism

A single operator could not weave material wider than his outstretched arms and both his hands were occupied in throwing and catching the shuttle.

The Gallant Weaver, by Robert Burns       Where Cart rins flow in tae the sea,         By many a flow'r and shading tree,         There lives a lad, the lad for me,        He is a gallant weaver.         Oh I had wooers ought of nine,         That gied me rings and ribbons fine,         But I was fear'd my heart wad tine,         And I gie'd it tae the weaver.        My daddie sign'd my tocher band,        To gi'e the lad that has the land,        But tae my heart I'll add my hand,        And gie'd it to the weaver.        While birds rejoice in leafy bow'rs,        While bees delight in opening flow'rs,        While corn grows green in summer show'rs,        I'll love my gallant weaver.  

John Kay’s Flying Shuttle, 1733- doubled the speading of weaving thread, resulting in “the Yarn Famine” A mechanic from Lancashire used cords attached to a picking peg to operate the shuttle on a loom. The shuttle was flung side to side mechanically from spring-loaded boxes placed either side of the loom. This enabled one weaver, with one hand, to operate the shuttle. He other hand was free to operate the reed comb which separated the warps. In effect, it doubled the speed of weaving; It took four spinners to keep up with a cotton loom and ten spinners of wool to prepare yarn for a wool weaver. In 1853, hand weavers attacked and burned down his home, he fled to France;

1764...James Hargreaves’ Spinning Jenny, - 8 spools of thread from one wheel!

Richard Awkright’s Water Frame, 1769 A system of rollers driven by water which spun firmer and finer thread on 100 spools Awkright is known as “the Father of the Factory System.” Awkright, trained as a barber, sold wigs, and became the father of the factory system. He adapted the spinning jenny by employing a water wheel to turn rollers that produced yarn of the correct thickness, while a set of spindles twisted the fibers to strengthen the final product. Thus the machine produced a stronger thread than anything available at the time.

Samuel Crompton’s Spinning Mule, 1779 Combined the spinning jenny and the water frame from to make the Spinning Mule Played the violin at the local theatre to pay for the parts needed to make his machine. It took five years. The Mule because it combined the twisting action of the jenny and the rollers of the water froame

James Watt’s Steam Engine, 1781

Edmund Cartwright’s Power Loom, 1785 Adapted the spinning mule to steam power allowing 200 spools of thread to be spun automatically, with little human interaction Father of the modern weaving loom; 200 spools in rapid, automatic steam- driven machine. Women and children had to replace the spools as they filled up.

Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin, 1793 50 lbs of cleaned cotton daily 1780-9 million bushels of cotton imported to England 1835-21 million bushels

One small boy could watch over 2 power looms whose output was 15x greater than a skilled handloom weaver

Factory towns spread all over England: Manchester became the cotton capital of the world

Luddites – displaced weavers rebelled in 1811- angry over their loss of jobs, they attacked and destroyed textile machines throughout England

Robert Fulton’s Clermont, 1807

George Stephenson’s Rocket, 1825

Technological advances in textiles Steam power The new iron age- steel In summary… Technological advances in textiles Steam power The new iron age- steel Transportation and communication Incorporation Urbanization The working class Relief and reform