Editing Richard Arkwright

{{Short description|English inventor and entrepreneur (1732–1792)}}
{{other people|Richard Arkwright}} 
{{pp-pc1}}
{{use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox person
|honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
| name        = Richard Arkwright
| image       = Sir Richard Arkwright by Mather Brown 1790.jpeg
| caption     = ''Sir Richard Arkwright'',<br /> oil on canvas, by [[Mather Brown]], 1790.<br /> [[New Britain Museum of American Art]], [[Connecticut]].
| birth_date = {{birth date|1732|12|23|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]], [[Lancashire]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|1792|8|3|1732|12|23|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Cromford]], [[Derbyshire]], England
| height      =
| title       = Sir Richard Arkwright
| term        =
| predecessor =
| party       = 
| boards      =
| children    = [[Richard Arkwright junior]], Susannah Arkwright
| parents     =
| relatives   =
| website     =
| signature   = Signature of Richard Arkwright (4672389).png
| footnotes   =
| spouse      = {{plainlist|
* Patience Holt, 
* Margaret Biggins
}}
| partner     =
}}

'''Sir Richard Arkwright''' (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early [[Industrial Revolution]]. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the [[spinning frame]], known as the [[water frame]] after it was adapted to use [[Hydropower|water power]]; and he patented a rotary [[carding]] engine to convert raw cotton to 'cotton lap' prior to spinning. He was the first to develop factories housing both mechanised carding and spinning operations.{{efn|[[Samuel Crompton]] was later to combine the two in his [[spinning mule]].}}

Arkwright's achievement was to combine power, machinery, semi-skilled labour and the new raw material of cotton to create mass-produced [[yarn]]. His organisational skills earned him the accolade "father of the modern industrial factory system,"<ref name=BBC>{{cite news|title=Sir Richard Arkwright (1732–1792)|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/arkwright_richard.shtml|access-date=1 April 2017|publisher=BBC}}</ref> notably through the methods developed in his mill at [[Cromford]], [[Derbyshire]] (now preserved as part of the [[Derwent Valley Mills]] World Heritage Site).

==Life and family==
[[File:Susannah Arkwright, mrs Charles Hurt (1762–1835) and her daughter Mary Anne, by Joseph Wright of Derby.jpg|thumb|left|Susannah Arkwright, Mrs Charles Hurt (1762–1835), and her daughter Mary Anne (painting by [[Joseph Wright of Derby]])]]
Richard Arkwright was born in [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]], [[Lancashire]], England on 23 December 1732, the youngest of seven surviving children<!--{{efn-lr|Thirteen children were born but the others died in infancy}}-->. His father, Thomas, was a tailor and a [[Preston Guild]] [[Burgess (title)|burgess]]. Richard's parents, Sarah and Thomas, could not afford to send him to school and instead arranged for him to be taught to read and write by his cousin Ellen. He was apprenticed to a Mr Nicholson, a barber at the nearby town of [[Kirkham, Lancashire|Kirkham]], and began his working life as a barber and wig-maker, setting up a shop at Churchgate in [[Bolton]] in the early 1760s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smiles |first1=Samuel |title=Self Help: With Illustrations of Character and Conduct |year=1861 |publisher=Ticknor and Fields |location=Boston |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_P5EWAAAAYAAJ/page/n56 47] |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_P5EWAAAAYAAJ |quote=self help samuel smiles. |access-date=2018-12-21}}</ref> It was here that he invented a waterproof dye for use on the fashionable [[wig|periwigs]] of the time, the income from which later funded his prototype cotton machinery.

Arkwright married his first wife, Patience Holt, in 1755. They had a son, [[Richard Arkwright Junior]], who was born the same year. Patience died in 1756, and then in 1761 Arkwright, aged 29, married Margaret Biggins. They had three children, of whom only Susannah survived to adulthood. At some time after the death of his first wife, Arkwright became interested in the development of [[carding]] and [[spinning (textiles)|spinning]] machinery to replace hand labour in the conversion of raw cotton to thread for weaving.

===Spinning frame===
In 1768, Arkwright and [[John Kay (spinning frame)|John Kay]], a clockmaker,<ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Origins of Engineering in Lancashire |first1=A. E. |last1=Musson |first2=E. |last2= Robinson |journal=The Journal of Economic History |volume=20 |issue=2 |date=June 1960 |pages=209–233 |jstor=2114855 |publisher=Cambridge University Press; Economic History Association|doi=10.1017/S0022050700110435 |s2cid=154008652 }}</ref> returned to Preston, renting rooms in a house on Stoneygate (now called [[Arkwright House, Preston|Arkwright House]]), where they worked on a spinning machine. In 1769 Arkwright patented the [[spinning frame]], a machine which produced twisted threads (initially for [[warp (weaving)|warp]]s only), using wooden and metal cylinders rather than human fingers. This machine, initially powered by horses (see [[#Cromford Mill|below]]), greatly reduced the cost of cotton-spinning, and would lead to major changes in the textile industry.

===Carding engine===
[[Lewis Paul]] had invented a machine for [[carding]] in 1748. Arkwright made improvements to this machine and in 1775 took out a patent for a new carding engine, which converted raw cotton to a continuous skein prior to spinning.<ref name="Povijest 12">{{cite book |editor1=[[Ivo Goldstein]]  |editor2= Kristina Milković |editor3= Enrico Craveto |location= [[Zagreb]] |date=n.d. |orig-date=2008 |title=Povijest 12: kolonijalizam i građanske revolucije |publisher=[[Europapress holding]] |page=67 |translator=Ana Bedurina |language= hr |isbn=978-953-300-046-6 }}</ref>
The machine used a succession of uneven rollers rotating at increasingly higher speeds to draw out the [[roving]], before applying a twist via a bobbin-and-flyer mechanism. It could make cotton [[yarn|thread]] thin and strong enough for the warp threads of [[Textile|cloth]].

===Cromford Mill===
Arkwright and John Smalley of Preston set up a small horse-driven factory at [[Nottingham]]. To obtain capital for expansion, Arkwright formed a partnership with [[Jedediah Strutt]] and Samuel Need, wealthy [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformist]] hosiery manufacturers. In 1771, the partners built the world's first water-powered mill at [[Cromford Mill|Cromford]], which covered both carding and spinning operations and employed 200 people.

[[File:Arkright's Mill - Cromford 29-04-06.jpg|thumb|Arkwright's mill at Cromford]]
In 1776 Arkwright built a second, larger mill at Cromford and, soon afterwards, mills at [[Bakewell]], [[Wirksworth]] and elsewhere (see [[#Factories and the factory system|below]]). His success as a businessman and innovator was widely recognized in his own time. The spinning frame was a large advance over [[James Hargreaves|Hargreaves]]'s [[spinning jenny]], in that very little training was required to operate the machinery, which produced a strong yarn suitable for [[Warp (weaving)|warp]] threads.

===Grand Patent===
To strengthen his position in relation to his many competitors and emulators, Arkwright obtained a "grand patent" in 1775, which he hoped would consolidate his position within the fast-growing cotton industry. Public opinion, however, was bitterly hostile to exclusive patents, and in 1781 Arkwright initiated legal proceedings to assert his rights. The case dragged on in court until 1785, when it was finally settled against him on the grounds that his specifications were deficient: the court had also heard assertions that the spinning frame was actually the invention of Arkwright's employee [[John Kay (spinning frame)|John Kay]], or of [[Thomas Highs]], Kay's previous employer.{{Citation needed|date=August 2014}}

===Factories and the factory system===
[[File:Masson Mills and Willersley Castle, Cromford - geograph.org.uk - 1194578.jpg|thumb|[[Masson Mill]] on the River Derwent, and Arkwright's house [[Willersley Castle]], completed only after his death.]]
With the expansion of the mill at Cromford, it soon became apparent that the existing population of the town would be inadequate to provide the labour needed for the scale of operations which Arkwright was planning. He therefore brought in workers from outside the locality, building a cluster of cottages near the mill to house them (he also built the Greyhound public house, which still stands in Cromford market square). Stuart Fisher states that the workers' homes are now considered to be "the first factory housing development in the world".<ref>
{{cite book |last=Fisher |first=Stuart |date=12 January 2017 |title=The Canals of Britain: The Comprehensive Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nFh5DQAAQBAJ&q=Arkwright%2C+built+in+cromford&pg=PA77 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |page=77|isbn=978-1-4729-4002-5 }}</ref>

Arkwright instigated novel and highly disciplined working arrangements at Cromford. Work was organised in two 13-hour shifts per day, including an overlap for the change of shift.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} Bells rang at 5&nbsp;am and 5&nbsp;pm and the gates were shut precisely at 6&nbsp;am and 6&nbsp;p.m.: anyone who was late was excluded from work for the rest of the day and lost an extra day's pay. Arkwright encouraged weavers with large families to move to Cromford. Whole families were employed, including large numbers of children as young as seven (subsequently increased to ten); and towards the end of his tenure, nearly two-thirds of the 1,150 employees were children.{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}} He allowed employees a week's holiday a year, on condition that they did not travel beyond the town.

After establishing the mill at Cromford, Arkwright returned to Lancashire and took up a lease of the Birkacre mill at [[Chorley]], which was to become a catalyst for the town's growth into one of the most important industrialised towns of the Industrial Revolution.
In 1777 Arkwright leased the [[Haarlem Mill]] in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, where he installed the first [[steam engine]] to be used in a cotton mill (this was used to replenish the millpond that drove the mill's [[waterwheel]] rather than to drive the machinery directly{{sfn|Fitton|1989|p=57}}{{sfn|Tann|1979|p=248}}).
He was invited to [[Scotland]], where he assisted [[David Dale]] in establishing cotton mills at [[New Lanark]]. A large mill of Arkwright's at Birkacre in Lancashire, was destroyed in the anti-machinery riots of 1779.

===Later life===
Aggressive and self-sufficient, Arkwright was a difficult man to work with. He bought out all his partners and went on to build factories at [[Manchester]], [[Matlock Bath]], New Lanark (in partnership with David Dale) and elsewhere. He was a member of the [[Church of England]], unlike many entrepreneurs of the time, who were often nonconformist.

Arkwright served as [[High Sheriff of Derbyshire]] and was knighted in 1786.<ref>{{cite book | title =The Forging of the Modern State: Early Industrial Britain | first =Eric | last =Evans | year =1983 | publisher =Longman Group | page =[https://archive.org/details/forgingofmoderns00evan/page/112 112] | url =https://archive.org/details/forgingofmoderns00evan/page/112 | isbn =0-582-48970-9 | url-access =registration }}</ref>

He also built [[Willersley Castle]], now a [[Grade II* listed building]], in 1791; after a fire in 1792, it was rebuilt and occupied by his son [[Richard Arkwright junior]] starting in 1796.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.countrylife.co.uk/property/a-castle-that-might-just-pay-for-itself-has-come-to-the-market-in-one-of-englands-most-beautiful-areas-217901 |title=A castle that might just pay for itself has come to the market in one of England's most beautiful areas |first=Toby |last=Keel |date=24 August 2020 |magazine=Country Life |access-date=30 August 2020}}</ref> Arkwright died at Rock House, Cromford, on 3 August 1792, aged 59, leaving a fortune of £500,000. He was buried at [[St Giles' Church, Matlock]]. His remains were later moved to the family chapel near the castle, now [[St Mary's Church, Cromford]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Famous People of Derbyshire | url = http://www.visitderbyshire.co.uk/about_famouspeople.ihtml#richard_arkwright |website=Visit Derbyshire| access-date = 2008-04-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Richard Arkwright | url = http://www.thornber.net/cheshire/ideasmen/arkwright.html | access-date = 2008-04-21 |last1=Thornber |first1=Craig }}</ref>
<!-- This material does not add to what is said elsewhere.
==Achievements==
[[File:arkwright-water-frame.jpg|thumb|right|An Arkwright water frame that was made in 1775.]]
Arkwright was the driver in terms of organisation and finance in the development of both the spinning frame and the carding machine, although critical technical contributions were made by others. Thus his main contribution was not so much the inventions per se, as the highly disciplined and profitable factory system he set up at Cromford, which was widely emulated. -->

==Memorials==
[[File:ArkwrightBluePlaqueAdamSt2012DianeGriffiths.jpg|thumb|Blue plaque marking the occupancy by Arkwright in Adam Street, London]]
* Richard Arkwright's barber shop in Churchgate, Bolton was demolished early in the 20th century. There is a small plaque above the door of the building that replaced it, recording Arkwright's occupancy.
* A [[Greater London Council]] [[blue plaque]] unveiled in 1984 commemorates Arkwright at 8 Adam Street in [[Charing Cross]], London.<ref name='EngHet'>{{cite web|url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/richard-arkwright/|title=ARKWRIGHT, SIR RICHARD (1732–1792)|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=2018-12-31}}</ref>
* Arkwright lived at Rock House in Cromford, opposite his original mill. In 1788 he purchased an estate from [[William Nightingale]] (the father of [[Florence Nightingale]]), for £20,000 and set about building [[Willersley Castle]] for himself and his family. However just as the building was completed it was destroyed by fire, and Arkwright was forced to wait a further two years whilst it was rebuilt. He died aged 59 in 1792, never having lived in the castle, which was completed only after his death. After being a hotel owned by the Christian Guild company,<ref>{{cite web | title = Willersley Castle Hotel | url = http://www.christianguild.co.uk/willersley/index.php | publisher = Christian Guild | access-date = 2008-04-21}}</ref> Willersley Castle now belongs to outdoor adventure education company Manor Adventure.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Residential Activity Courses for Schools in the UK & France|url=https://www.manoradventure.com/|access-date=2021-09-17|website=manoradventure.com}}</ref>
* [[The Arkwright Society]], set up after the bicentenary of [[Cromford Mill]], owns the mill complex and has worked to restore it.<ref>[https://www.cromfordmills.org.uk/about About Us]</ref> [[Derwent Valley Mills]], including this site, was declared by [[Historic England]] as "one of the country's 100 irreplaceable sites".<ref>[https://historicengland.org.uk/get-involved/angel-awards/best-major-regeneration-historic-building/cromford-mills/ The Cromford Mills Creative Cluster and World Heritage Site Gateway Project, Derbyshire]</ref> It is also the centrepiece of the [[Derwent Valley Mills]] [[World Heritage Site|UNESCO World Heritage Site]]. <!-- Following is an obituary for Richard Arkwright written a few days after his death. {{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}
* The youngest of thirteen children, Sir Richard Arkwright was born in [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]] on 23 December 1732. Arkwright will be remembered by most for his reformation of the way that people work. No one has had greater influence and indeed revolutionised industry than Sir Richard Arkwright. At 59 years of age, Arkwright died one of the richest men in Britain. It is estimated that his fortune amounted to something in the region of £500,000. In 1762 Arkwright started a wig-making business. This involved him travelling the country collecting people's discarded hair. While on his travels, Arkwright heard about the attempts being made to produce new machines for the textile industry. Arkwright also met John Kay, a clockmaker from [[Warrington]], who had been busy for some time trying to produce a new spinning-machine with another man, Thomas Highs of [[Leigh, Greater Manchester|Leigh]]. Kay and Highs had run out of money and had been forced to abandon the project. To Arkwright's amazement, John Kay invited him to help produce this remarkable new machine. Arkwright accepted Kay's offer and employed a local craftsman, and miraculously, it wasn't long until the four actually produced the brand new "Spinning Frame". Arkwright patented this and his "Water Frame" in 1769, which caused great rivalry between him and other cotton spinning entrepreneurs. In 1771 Arkwright invented the world's first water powered cotton mill at [[Cressbrook]] in Derbyshire. A series of court cases followed as Arkwright attempted to prosecute rivals who had infringed his patents, culminating in an action brought by the Crown in 1785. Surely, Arkwright's contribution to the cotton industry entitles him to be referred to the father of the Industrial Revolution and will always be remembered for his great, albeit stolen, inventions. REMOVED as doesn't read like what it says it is and it resembles word for word text on Spartacus site-->
<!-- * In the USA, there is an elementary school named after Arkwright in [[Glendale, NY]]. Spurious, Non-notable link- a quick google will find many Arkwright Elementary Schools -->
* The [[Arkwright Scholarships]] Trust was set up in the UK in 1991 in Arkwright's memory to give scholarships to aspiring future leaders in engineering and technical design. By 2014, the Trust was awarding approximately 400 scholarships annually to support students through their 'A' levels and Scottish Highers, and to assist young people undertaking higher-level apprenticeships and university engineering studies. It had awarded over 5,000 scholarships as of mid 2020.<ref>[https://www.arkwright.org.uk/ Step up and see where your talent could take you]</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{Citation |last=Chapman |first=S. D. |title=The Early Factory Masters: The Transition to the Factory System in the Midlands Textile Industry |year=1967 }}.
* {{Citation |last=Cooke |first=A. J. |title=Richard Arkwright and the Scottish cotton industry |journal=[[Textile History]] |volume=10 |year=1979 |pages=196–202 |doi=10.1179/004049679793691394}}.
* {{Citation |last=Fitton |first=R. S. |title=The Arkwrights: Spinners of Fortune |year=1989 |location=Manchester |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=0-7190-2646-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jWW7AAAAIAAJ}}.
* {{Citation |last1=Fitton |first1=R. S. |author-mask=3 |name-list-style=amp |first2=A. P. |last2=Wadsworth |title= The Strutts and the Arkwrights, 1758–1830: A Study of the Early Factory System |year=1958 |location=Manchester |publisher=Manchester University Press}}.
* {{Citation |last=Hewish |first=John |title=From Cromford to Chancery Lane: New Light on the Arkwright Patent Trials |journal=Technology and Culture |volume=28 |issue=1 |year=1987 |pages=80–86 |doi=10.2307/3105478 |jstor=3105478 |s2cid=113203814 }}.
* {{Citation |last=Hills |first=Richard L. |title=Sir Richard Arkwright and His Patent Granted in 1769 |journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London |volume=24 |issue=2 |year=1970 |pages=254–260 |jstor=531292 |doi=10.1098/rsnr.1970.0017|doi-access=free }}.
* {{Citation |last=Mason |first=J. J. |title=Arkwright, Sir Richard (1732–1792) |work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |year=2004 }}.
* {{Citation |last=Tann |first=Jennifer |title=Richard Arkwright and Technology |journal=History |volume=58 |year=1973 |issue=192 |pages=29–44 |doi= 10.1111/j.1468-229x.1973.tb02131.x}}.
* {{Citation |last=Tann |first=Jennifer |author-mask=3 |title= The Development of the Factory |year=1970 }}.
* {{Citation |last=Tann |first=Jennifer |author-mask=3 |title= Arkwright's Employment of Steam Power |journal=Business History |year=1979 |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=247–250 |issn=0007-6791 |doi=10.1080/00076797900000030}}.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Richard Arkwright}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{Cite DNB|wstitle=Arkwright, Richard (1732-1792)|display=Arkwright, Richard (1732–1792)|volume=2|first=Thomas |last=Finlayson Henderson |short=x}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Arkwright, Sir Richard |short=x}}
* {{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Arkwright, Richard |short=x}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090517071603/http://www.cottontown.org/page.cfm?pageid=604&language=eng Richard Arkwright 1732–1792 Inventor of the Water Frame]
* [http://www.heeve.com/modern-history/richard-arkwright-the-father-of-the-modern-factory-system.html Richard Arkwright The Father of the Modern Factory System] Biography and Legacy
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040810031055/http://www.cottontimes.co.uk/arkwrighto.htm Essay on Arkwright]
* [http://www.exnet.com/1995/10/10/science/science.html Richard Arkwright, Cotton King]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060308154827/http://www.revolutionaryplayers.org.uk/home.stm Revolutionary Players website]
* [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1030 Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site]
* [[:s:The New Student's Reference Work/Arkwright, Sir Richard|The New Student's Reference Work/Arkwright, Sir Richard]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090207150701/http://www.pd65.dial.pipex.com/matlock/ped/arkwright.htm Descendants of Sir Richard Arkwright]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090208053227/http://www.pd65.dial.pipex.com/matlock/mills.htm Richard Arkwright in Derbyshire]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080820123119/http://www.lancashirepioneers.com/arkwright/default.asp Lancashire Pioneers] – includes an obituary of Arkwright from 1792
* [http://www.arkwright.org.uk The Arkwright Scholarships Trust] – named after Sir Richard. Awards prestigious Scholarships to aspiring future leaders in engineering and design in the UK.

{{Derby Museum}}
{{Lancashire cotton}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Arkwright, Richard}}
[[Category:1732 births]]
[[Category:1792 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century English businesspeople]]
[[Category:18th-century industrialists]]
[[Category:British textile industry businesspeople]]

[[Category:Businesspeople from Preston, Lancashire]]
[[Category:Engineers from Preston, Lancashire]]
[[Category:English Anglicans]]
[[Category:English industrialists]]
[[Category:English inventors]]
[[Category:Industrial Revolution in England]]
[[Category:Paintings by Joseph Wright of Derby]]
[[Category:People from Cromford]]
[[Category:People of the Industrial Revolution]]