Richard Arkwright

1732-1793. British inventor and entrepreneur.

Introduction

Richard Arkwright was a British inventor and entrepreneur who became famous for the development of spinning machinery and the water frame which was a huge contribution for the industrial revolution and thereby laid the first foundation stone for mass production in England. This led to a rise in society as he was later knighted and became Sir Richard Arkwright in 1786. He was born on 23rd December 1732 in Preston, Lancashire and died on 3rd August 1793 in Cromford, Derbyshire.

His Life

Born in 1732 in Preston, Richard Arkwright grew up under very poor conditions and therefore he did not receive any public schooling. Instead it was his cousin who taught him reading and writing. His father, Thomas Arkwright, was a tailor in his home town.

From very early on Richard started working as a hairdresser and wig-maker. His wish to run his own company became stronger and stronger.

In 1762, his second wife Margaret Biggins offered him the money he needed to start his own wig-making business. For that purpose he travelled around the country in order to gather peoples' hair. During those journeys he got in touch with John Kay and Thomas Highs of Leigh who were both working on a new spinning machine. However, they did not have enough money and were forced to give up the whole project. Richard Arkwright was impressed by their plans, employed them in his company and offered them the money they needed to finish their project.

Together they produced the so called spinning-frame. In 1769, Arkwright asked a Ichabod Wright, a banker, for new funds to widen his business throughout the country. Thereby he got in touch with Samuel Need and Jebediah Strutt with whom he agreed on a partnership. As the team soon realized that the new spinning-frame needed strong power to work, Need, Strutt and Arkwright created the world's first water-powered mill at Cromford. This mill was strong enough to let this invention work. The spinning-frame became now known as the water-frame. Arkwright started building water-mills throughout the whole country.

The water-frame was such a big success that Arkwright had difficulties to get patent of the water-powered engine on time. It was not before 1775 that he was successful. He hoped to gain the monopoly of the whole production. In 1781, however, his patent was rejected as Lancashire explained that Arkwright had only copied and improved already existing ideas by e.g. Thomas Highs.

Despite all this, he was knighted in 1786. He died six years later on 3rd August 1792 at Willersley Castle in Cromford, Derbyshire.

Importance for the 18th Century

Later he was named the 'Father of the Industrial Revolution' as he insisted on work discipline among the workers and a profitable system which became the basis for the Industrial Revolution.

The workers lived next to the factory in small houses. They had to start working on time at 5 a.m. and if they were too late they were not allowed to work for the whole day left. Their daily income was lost. They left the factory at 5 p.m. The employees had one week holiday per year but under the conditions that they were not able to leave the village. Arkwright employed whole families, even children from the age of 7.

Further literature

Allen, Robert C.: The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Pres, 2009.

Hills, Richard Leslie: Richard Arkwright and Cotton Spinning. London: Wayland Ltd. 1980.

Further links

Historisches Zentrum Wuppertal: <http://www.historisches-zentrum-wuppertal.de/frueh3c1-frame.html> (17th January 2010)

Yale University: <http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1981/2/81.02.06.x.html> (17th January 2010)