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With the establishment of overseas colonies, the British Empire at the end of the 17th century/beginning of the 18th century had a vast source of raw materials and a vast market for goods. The manufacture of goods was performed on a limited scale by individual workers – usually on their own premises (such as weavers' cottages) – and was transported around the country by horse and cart, or by river boat. Power was supplied by draught animals for agriculture and haulage.
There was a marketplace to service, but the scale of industry; the sources of power; and the lack of an inland communications infrastructure were the unseen hurdles to overcome.
In this context, the scene was set for Great Britain to develop the industry of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution.
A key British industry at the beginning of the 18th century was the production of textiles made with wool from the large sheep-farming areas in the Midlands and across the country (created as a result of land-clearance and enclosures). Handlooms and spinning wheels were the tools of the trade of the weavers in their cottages, and this was a labour-intensive activity providing employment throughout Britain, with major centres being the West Country; Norwich and environs; and the West Riding of Yorkshire. The export trade in woolen goods accounted for more than a quarter of British exports during most of the 18th century, doubling between 1701 and 1770 . Exports of the cotton industry – centred in Lancashire – had grown ten-fold during this time, but still accounted for only a tenth of the value of the woolen trade.
In 1733 in Bury, Lancashire, John Kay invented the flying shuttle — one of the first of a series of inventions that was to propel Britain to being the dominant industrial power of the 18th and 19th centuries. The flying shuttle increased the width of cotton cloth and speed of production of a single weaver. Resistance by workers to the perceived threat to jobs delayed the widespread introduction of this technology, even though the higher rate of production generated an increased demand for spun cotton.
In 1738, Louis Paul – one of the community of Huguenot weavers that had been driven out of France in a wave of religious persecution – developed the drawing roller method to twist and spin yarn.
In 1764, James Hargreaves is credited as inventor of the Spinning Jenny which multiplied the spun thread production capacity of a single worker — initially eight-fold and subsequently much further. Sources credit the original invention to Thomas Highs, who had a daughter named Jenny for whom the invention might have been named. Industrial unrest and a failure to patent the invention until 1770 forced Hargreaves from Blackburn, but his lack of protection of the idea allowed the concept to be exploited by others. As a result, there were over 20,000 Spinning Jennies in use by the time of his death.
In 1771, Richard Arkwright used waterwheels to power looms for the production of cotton cloth, his invention becoming known as the Water Frame. (Frame is another name for loom.) The Water Frame was developed from the Spinning Frame that Arkwright had developed with (a different) John Kay, from Warrington. This he had patented in 1769 (see : Press the 'Ingenious' button and use search key '10302171' for the patent). Initial attempts at driving the frame had used horse power, but the innovation of using a waterwheel demanded a location with a ready supply of water. This first cotton mill (at Cromford, Derbyshire; preserved as part of the Derwent Valley Mills) was a factory in the vein of the Soho Manufactory. Arkwright protected his investment (from industrial rivals and potentially disruptive workers), and generated jobs for which workers' accommodations were constructed, leading to a sizeable industrial community. Arkwright expanded his operations to other areas of the country.
In 1779, Samuel Crompton of Bolton combined elements of the Spinning Jenny and Water Frame to create the Spinning Mule. This produced a stronger thread, and was suitable for mechanisation on a grand scale. As with Kay and Hargreaves, Crompton was not able to exploit his invention for his own profit, and died a pauper.
In 1784, Edmund Cartwright invented the power loom, and produced a prototype in the following year. His initial venture to exploit this technology failed, although his advances were recognised by others in the industry. Others – such as Robert Grimshaw (whose factory was destroyed in 1790 as part of the growing reaction against the mechanization of the industry) and Austin – developed the ideas further.
In 1803, Thomas Johnson invented the dressing frame which enabled power looms to operate continuously, and this fueled the take-off of steam-powered weaving such that by 1823 there were estimated to be 10,000 power looms in operation in Great Britain.
The use of water power to drive mills was quickly adopted by many entrepreneurs, and one example is Samuel Greg. He joined his uncle's firm of textile merchants, and, on taking over the company in 1782, he sought out a site to establish a mill. Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire still exists as a well preserved museum, having been in use from its construction in 1784 until 1959. It illustrates how the mill owners exploited child labour, taking orphans from nearby Manchester, but also shows that these children were housed, clothed, fed and provided with some education. This mill also shows the transition from water power to steam power, with steam engines to drive the looms being installed in 1810.
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