Arkwright, Sir Richard

Arkwright, Sir Richard (1732-92), inventor, b. Preston, Lancashire. Richard Arkwright was a barber in Bolton, Lancashire, during the Industrial Revolution.

He became interested in the manufacture of cotton cloth and in 1769 invented the first successful power-driven spinning machine. Using water power, Arkwright opened a factory at Cromford on the River Derwent in Derbyshire in 1771, and later other factories in other places.

Cotton workers thought his machines would make them lose their jobs, and they destroyed one of his factories at Chorley, Lancashire. But Arkwright became rich and successful and in 1786 he was knighted. In 1790 he began to use steam engines in his factories. His first spinning-machine can be seen today in the Science Museum, London. See RICHARD L. HILLS Richard Arkwright and Cotton Spinning Main Line Book Co (June 1980).