The inventor of the power loom, Edmund Cartwright was born April 24, 1743 in Marnham in Nottinghamshire.
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| Edmund Cartwright by Allen & Ginter - The Metropolitan Museum of Art |
He was the brother of Major John Cartwright, a political reformer and radical, and George Cartwright, explorer of Labrador.
He was educated at Wakefield grammar school and University College, Oxford, and was later elected a Fellow of Magdalen College. In 1779 he became rector of the parish of Goadby Marwood in Leicestershire.
Before turning to invention, Cartwright was a published poet. His verse tale Armine and Elvira (1771) was much admired, and his later poem The Prince of Peace (1779) deplored the war in America.
During a visit to the Matlock and Cromford area in 1784 Cartwright saw Richard Arkwright's cotton-spinning mills. These fascinated him, and he decided to construct a similar machine for weaving. The next year he created a rude contrivance, which with further improvements became the power-driven loom which was soon to replace its hand-operated forerunner.
Remarkably, Cartwright built his first loom without ever having watched an ordinary hand-loom in operation. He took out his patent on April 4, 1785, and completed a much-improved version by 1787.
In 1789 Cartwright patented a wool-combing machine. It lowered manufacturing costs, but he made little money from any of his inventions.
In 1790 Robert Grimshaw, of Gorton, Manchester, erected a weaving factory at Knott Mill which he intended to fill with 500 of Cartwright's power looms, but with only around two dozen in place the factory was burnt down in 1792, probably an act of arson inspired by the fears of hand-loom weavers.
Cartwright ran his own steam-powered weaving mill in Doncaster from 1787, but the venture failed and he assigned his patents to his brothers, giving up the works in 1793.
Before turning to invention, Cartwright was a published poet. His verse tale Armine and Elvira (1771) was much admired, and his later poem The Prince of Peace (1779) deplored the war in America.
During a visit to the Matlock and Cromford area in 1784 Cartwright saw Richard Arkwright's cotton-spinning mills. These fascinated him, and he decided to construct a similar machine for weaving. The next year he created a rude contrivance, which with further improvements became the power-driven loom which was soon to replace its hand-operated forerunner.
Remarkably, Cartwright built his first loom without ever having watched an ordinary hand-loom in operation. He took out his patent on April 4, 1785, and completed a much-improved version by 1787.
In 1789 Cartwright patented a wool-combing machine. It lowered manufacturing costs, but he made little money from any of his inventions.
In 1790 Robert Grimshaw, of Gorton, Manchester, erected a weaving factory at Knott Mill which he intended to fill with 500 of Cartwright's power looms, but with only around two dozen in place the factory was burnt down in 1792, probably an act of arson inspired by the fears of hand-loom weavers.
Cartwright ran his own steam-powered weaving mill in Doncaster from 1787, but the venture failed and he assigned his patents to his brothers, giving up the works in 1793.
Cartwright also pioneered an engine run on alcohol, patented a rope-making machine (the "cordelier") in 1792, and devised notable improvements in agricultural implements.
In 1820 the tireless inventor produced a horse-free carriage called the "Centaur Carriage." Powered by two men working cranks, it was used to collect groceries and was said to manage 27 miles in a day on the level.
His power loom's real impact came abroad as well as at home: the first American power loom, based on Cartwright's principle, was built by Francis Cabot Lowell in Massachusetts in 1813.
Fifty Lancashire firms sent a special memorandum to the then Prime Minister which resulted in Cartwright being awarded, in 1809, a grant of £10,000. He used the money to purchase a farm in Kent
Inventing to the last, Edmund Cartwright died at Hastings, Sussex on October 30, 1823, aged 80, and was buried in the church at Battle.
Sources Europress Family Encyclopedia 1999, Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Wikipedia
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