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Birth of Edmund Cartwright
Edmund Cartwright was born in Nottinghamshire, England on April 18th, 1743. -
Richard Arkwright Invents the Water Frame
Richard Arkwright invented the water frame, or the spinning frame, in 1769. -
A Visit to Richard Arkwright
In 1784 Cartwright visited Richard Arkwright's cotton-spinning mills at Cromford in Derbyshire. He was inspired by them to construct a weaving machine of his own. His idea was scornful to many. They thought that such a complex process would be imposibble to make automatic. -
Invention of the Water-Powered Loom and Patenting
Edmund Cartwright finally built the first water powered loom, or power loom for short. On April 4th he obtained a patent for it. -
Cartwright's Second Loom
In 1786 Cartwright invented a second powered loom that was more efficient than his first one. He used this type of loom in his factory at Doncaster. -
Cartwright sets up a Factory
Cartwright set up a factory in Doncaster for his looms in 1787. -
Disaster at Manchester
In 1791, a mill at Manchester ordered 400 of Cartwright's second water-powered looms. But workers who feared that the looms would remove their jobs burned the mill down before the looms began work in the factory. -
Cartwright goes Bankrupt
Cartwright was no businessman. His factory in Doncaster went bankrupt in 1793. -
William Horrocks' Improving
In 1803 William Horrock patented an improved power-loom based off of Cartwright's design. -
The House of Commons votes Cartwright £10,000
In 1809 the House of Commons voted Edmund Catwright £10,000 to recognize the benefits of his water-powered loom. It was something equivalent to $50,000 in today's money. -
Richard Guest Claims that a 14-15 Year Old Can Run 2 Power Looms and Produce Nearly 3.5 Times as Much Cloth as a Hand-Weaver
By 1823 Richard Guest was able to claim that "a boy or girl aged fourteen or fifteen could manage two power-looms and could produce three and a half times as much as the best handloom weaver". -
Death of Edmund Cartwright
Edmund Cartwright died on October 30, 1823. -
250,000 Water-Powered Looms in use in Europe
By 1850 there were 250,000 water-powered looms in use in Europe. About 177,000 of those were in Lancashire.
