10 Facts About James Hargreaves

James Hargreaves was one of three men responsible for the mechanisation of spinning: Hargreaves is credited with inventing the spinning jenny in 1764; Richard Arkwright patented the water frame in 1769; and Samuel Crompton combined the two, creating the spinning mule in 1779.

James Hargreaves was described as "stout, broadest man of about five-foot ten, or rather more".

James Hargreaves was illiterate and worked as a hand loom weaver during most of his life.

James Hargreaves married and baptismal records show he had 13 children, of whom the author Baines in 1835 was aware of '6 or 7'.

The idea for the spinning jenny is said to have come when a one-thread spinning wheel was overturned on the floor, and Hargreaves saw both the wheel and the spindle continuing to revolve.

James Hargreaves realized that if several spindles were placed upright and side by side, several threads might be spun at once.

James Hargreaves built a jenny for himself and sold several of them to his neighbours.

James Hargreaves's invention was initially welcomed by other hand spinners until they saw a fall in the price of yarn.

Opposition to the machine caused James Hargreaves to leave for Nottingham, where the cotton hosiery industry benefited from the increased provision of suitable yarn.

Parish burial records show that James Hargreaves did not die in the workhouse, as had been claimed;.