Richard Arkwright

Who was Richard Arkwright?

Sir Richard Arkwright was self-made man, a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. Although the patents were eventually overturned, he is credited with inventing the spinning frame, which, following the transition to water power was renamed the water frame. He also patented a rotary carding engine that transformed raw cotton into cotton lap.

Arkwright's achievement was to combine power, machinery, semi-skilled labour and the new raw material to create mass-produced yarn. His skills of organisation made him, more than anyone else, the creator of the modern factory system, especially in his mill at Cromford.