The Arkwrights
THE ARKWRIGHTS The Industrial Re30lution at Stockport and Marple GEORGE UNWIN, M.A., M.Com. ~rofuirof Economic History in the U?lioersity of Manche~ter with Chapters by ARTHUR HULME and GEORGE TAYLOR, M.A. MANCHESTER - - AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON, NEW YORK, 8rC. LONGMANS, GREEN & CO. '924 PREFACE Publications of the Utzio~rjityof Manckerter HREE leading contemporary authorities on the No. CLXII. early history of the cotton industry and of the Tfactory system-Robert Owen, William Radcliffe, and John Kennedy-agree in attributing considerable im- portance to the achievements of Samuel Oldknow, who first turned the new spinning inventions to full account by the production of finer cotton fabrics in successful rivalry with the East. In his delightful autobiogl-aptly, Owe11 has told us how, soon after he became an apprentice in Mr. McGuffog's shop at Stamford, Oldknow's British Mull Muslins beean4 to disvlace those of Indian manu- facture and were eagerly bought up by the nobility at half-a-guinea a yard. His subsequent account of Oldknow's beginnings as a master spinner anti of how " the handsonle and imposing mill at Mellor " proved a stumbling block to the ardent young Welshman's earliest ambitions will be found recorded in this book in Owen's inimitable style. This cotton mill. which ~assedinto the hands of the Arkwright family, has destroyed by fire in I 892, and has since that date been a picturesque and interesting ruin. A detached portion, however, lying by the river-side and within a stone's-throw of the residence built bv Oldknow.
[Show full text]