1764 James Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny

This photograph, taken by Arthur Winter, shows a simple spinning wheel.

Spinning is the process used to turn cotton or wool fibres into long threads called yarns. Yarns are used during weaving. Spinning was originally done using a spinning wheel, which spun one yarn at a time. This became a problem in the 1760s, when weavers using the shuttle became faster and needed more yarn. What was needed was a faster and more productive spinning machine.

The spinning jenny was a wooden hand-powered machine. It used a wheel to turn the spindles of cotton and a drawbar to pull the cotton back and forth to spin it into yarn. When it was patented in 1770 it could spin eight threads at a time. Unfortunately, the spinning jenny did not make yarn strong enough to be used as the cotton warp.

By 1784 the spinning jenny spun 80 threads at once. It became too large to be used in the homes of spinners. Cotton factories, also known as mills, were built throughout Lancashire to house these larger machines. Preston's first mill probably used the spinning jenny.

For more information on spinning inventions go to 1779.

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