Hargreaves, James

Hargreaves, James (about 1722-78), inventor, b. probably Blackburn, Lancashire, England.

James Hargreaves was a weaver.

In 1733, John Kay invented the 'flying shuttle' which enabled weavers to work twice as quickly. This meant they needed more thread and, in 1764, Hargreaves invented a machine to spin many threads at one time. He called it a 'jenny' after his wife.

Some spinners thought this machine would make them lose their jobs. They broke into Hargreaves's home and destroyed the machine.

Afterwards he moved to Nottingham and for the rest of his life he ran a spinning-mill there.