Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain
Images of the Cloth Manufacturing Industry

FILE0087 Improved Jenny (Guest)


Spinning Jenny

     James Hargreaves (with Thomas Highs), almost simultaneously with the work being done by Richard Awkright, developed in 1764 the "Jenny" (Hargreaves' daughter was named "Jenny"). The jenny effectively used a common axle which spun several threads of yarn simultaneously onto several vertically mounted spindles. First 8 spindles, then 16, and other improved versions of the Jenny added more spindles (Richard Guest, 1823). Samuel Crompton invented the "mule" between 1775 and 1779. In 1790, the "slubbing Billy" was developed, which accomplished for wool, what had been done by the jenny for cotton. The mule was a hybrid between a jenny and waterwheel power. Finally, in 1825, Richard Roberts and others (such as James Brown) developed the "self-actor mule" which not only stretched yarn, but improved the winding of yarn.

Click to see:

Thomas Highs' Spinning Jenny
Lancashire, 1764

FILE0092 Spinning Jenny by Highs

Samuel Crompton
c. 1775-1779

Samuel Crompton

James Hargreaves' Jenny
Standhill, 1764

FILE0196 Hargreaves Jenny

Hall-i'-th-Wood
Bolton, 1779 (Crompton's home)

FILE0066 Hall-i'-th-Wood Bolton 1779

Slubbing Billy (for wool)
1790

FILE0178 Slubbing Billy

Samuel Crompton's Mule
1825

FILE0180 Crompton's Mule

Spinning Jenny

BAINES_47 Jenny

Mule Spinning

FILE0182 Mule Spinning

Richard Guest's Improved Jenny
1823

FILE0087 Improved Jenny (Guest)

Richard Roberts' Self-actor Mule
(James Brown) 1825

Self-actor Mule, three-quarter scale

Back

© Copyright 2006 - 2018    The Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg Trust     Website Terms of Use