1732-1792

English Inventor

Sir Richard Arkwright was an English inventor and cotton manufacturer during the early years of the Industrial Revolution. He developed a mechanical machine for spinning cotton, a process that was up to this time done in small homes and farms. He also developed an early model for the factory system based on division of labor and a management system.

The youngest of 13 children, Richard Arkwright was born in Preston, England, on December 23, 1732. His parents were very poor and could not afford to send him to school. Instead, he was tutored by a cousin to read and write. After learning the basics, he was apprenticed to a barber and by 1750 was practicing his trade of wig-making. He acquired a secret method for dying hair and traveled about England purchasing human hair for the manufacture of wigs. These travels brought him into contact...