The Spinning Mule (1779)  

Samuel Crompton, in 1779 invented the spinning mule. The world of inventors was interconnected - Crompton knew Arkwright (the ‘inventor' of the water frame) as a barber, and his father was a farmer, weaver, and spinner hence often using the jenny himself. Due to his experience with the jenny he wanted to improve on it, and the spinning mule was inspired by the spinning jenny and the water frame, borrowing aspects of both. It used the rollers of the water frame and incorporated within the design the moving carriage of the spinning jenny. The mule eliminated any major flaws in the yarn produced by the previous two inventions and manufactured thread that was both fine and durable – hence useful in any kind of cloth. This thread was especially beneficial in the making of fine cloths, much finer than the ones earlier imported from India . The production of muslin, hence, rapidly increased. In 1785, approximately 50,000 pieces of muslins were produced in Great Britain . (A. Anderson, An Historical and Chronological Deduction of the Origin of Commerce, IV, 655.) Crompton's first mules were suited to being used in domestic environments, and the later ones were used in larger factories. Crompton was too poor to apply for a patent, and reached the desperation of playing his violin at concerts to raise money but to no avail. Crompton did not immediately think to use it in a business venture, but rather kept the machine for his own use, his thread soon arousing the jealousy of neighboring spinners. He wrote in a letter (to and quoted by E. Baines, History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster, II, 453.): ‘I was under the necessity of making it public or destroying it, as it was not in my power to keep it and work it, and to destroy it was too painful a task, having been four and a half years, at least, wherein every moment of time and power of mind, as well as expense, which my other employment would permit, were devoted to this one end, the having good yarn to weave: so that destroy it I could not.' Crompton, although intelligent in his own right, did not possess the dexterity, organization, or leadership skills to profit from a business venture using his mule. So, he sold his genius design for a meager sum of sixty pounds.  

A Scotch manufacturer, William Kelly, adapted Crompton's invention to the water wheel in 1790, and from then on, the mule now automatic replaced the jenny as the preferred and faster spinning machine. By 1812, hundreds of factories were using the mule.  

Crompton was awarded a grant for his invention in 1812, but spent it paying his debts. He died in abysmal poverty, not having profited from his invention, and having been taken advantage of by his competitors.  

Sources:

"Crompton's spinning mule." The Literary Encyclopedia. 23 Jan. 2004 . The Literary Dictionary Company. 29 December 2005 . < http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1363 >  

Deane, Phyllis. The First Industrial Revolution . New York : Cambridge University Press, 1965.  

Industrial Revolution . 11 Mar. 2006 . 21 Mar. 2006

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