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

     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.

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