9th February, 2007
Eighteenth Century
During the 18th century there were many self employed weavers in the Wigan area who worked at looms in their own cottages. They bought their yarn from dealers and wove it into cloth which was then sold to mercers. Some weavers owned their looms, shuttles etc: others rented the necessary equipment.
Sometimes weaving was a secondary occupation used to supplement income from, for example, farming.
Technical Innovations
In 1733 John Kay invented the "flying shuttle" - a device which greatly increased the speed at which cloth could be woven. It also meant that a single weaver could produce a wider piece of material as the shuttle could now be passed more than an arm's length.
This led to unrest among weavers. They feared there would be less employment as yarn production was insufficient for their needs.In 1761 the Society of Arts offered a reward for the invention of a machine which could:
"spin six threads of wool, flax, hemp or cotton at one line, and that will require but one person to work and attend it."
James Hargreaves obliged with the "spinning jenny" sometime in the 1760s. It must be said, however, that there were others who claimed to have invented spinning machines before Hargreaves.
Over the following years spinning technology was rapidly developed. Arkwright's water frame (1769) was similar to the spinning jenny but was powered, at first by animals, and later by water.
Spinning Mule
The most important step forward was the invention of the spinning mule (1778/1779), which was probably first developed by Samuel Crompton, although others have also been attributed with the development.
The spinning mule - so called because it was a cross between the jenny and the water frame - was an efficient machine which produced finely spun yarns.
The development of viable power looms was now imminent and the days of the domestic hand weaver were drawing to a close.