Jenny speeds up spinning
RAMESH SETH
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James Hargreaves developed a new spinning machine that allowed its operator to spin several threads at once.
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Jenny was simple enough to be operated by a layman and effective enough to revolutionise the production of thread.
AN ARTIST'S IMPRESSION: The Spinning Jenny.
Impelled by the steady demand for more yarn, in 1765 James Hargreaves, an Englishman, developed a spinning machine, naming it Spinning Jenny. This machine could spin eight stands of thread at the same time, instead of the usual one.
Born in Lancashire in 1720, Hargreaves had no formal education and could neither read nor write. His early life was predictably agricultural, which in that region at that time meant combining farming with weaving cloth. He married in 1740 and had 13 children. However, like many others who had adopted John Kay's flying shuttle, he felt frustrated by the inability of his family to keep him supplied with thread.
What was the Spinning Jenny? It was a simple wooden contraption that allowed its operator to spin several threads at once. It was, in essence, six spinning-wheel mechanisms bolted together and turned on their side, powered by one large wheel. A moving carriage bearing the spindles stretched the thread as it pulled away from the body of the machine, imparting twists to the cotton at the same time. Then the spindles wound up the thread as the carriage returned, before the process started again.
Simple but effective
The Jenny was simple enough to be operated by a layman, small enough to fit into a farmhouse kitchen and effective enough to revolutionise the production of thread. The Jenny's fame spread quickly, and even manufacturer Robert Peel — grandfather of the future prime minister — invested in some for his nearby Brookside Mill. By the time of Hargreaves' death, more than 20,000 Spinning Jennies were in use. But the machine was never more than a stepping-stone to the mechanisation of spinning.
Just as it happened earlier with Kay's flying shuttle, Spinning Jenny too aroused jealousy and fear among his neighbours and, in 1768, an irate mob gathered at Blackburn's market cross and marched to Stanhill, where they smashed the frames of 20 machines he was building. The machine breakers then marched on to Brookside Mill and finally to Hargreaves's home at Ramsclough. Here, it is said, one of the rioters placed a hammer in Hargreaves's hands and forced him to destroy his own machinery.
This was too much for Hargreaves. He fled to Nottingham, where there was less suspicion of new technology, and opened a small mill in partnership with a man called Thomas James. He continued to develop the Jenny, finally taking out a patent in 1770. But he had left it too late. In Lancashire, carpenters were knocking up copies of the Jenny by the hundred while others were improving on the original, increasing the number of threads to 80 and beyond. All Hargreaves's effort and determination were of no avail. Since his patent was ignored by the poachers, just like Kay of the Flying Shuttle, he died in poverty and obscurity in Nottingham in 1777.
At Stanhill
There is nothing to show how Hargreaves came into possession of Highs's jenny, or more likely, even the plans for it. Highs had built his machine in 1763 or '64, but did not have the money to patent it. Instead, he built several machines for rental before abandoning his interest in it to concentrate on something he found far more interesting. Hargreaves built his first machine in 1767, his principal tool being a pocket-knife. That first Hargreaves Jenny had eight spindles — an improvement on Highs's six — and even larger versions followed. Soon, several friends and members of his family were using them. The thread they produced was coarse and lacked strength, making it suitable only for weft, but it was a step in the right direction.
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