Sir Richard Arkwright
(1732-1792), Engineer and inventorMid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 2 portraits
The inventor and entrepreneur, Richard Arkwright is one of the leading figures of the Industrial Revolution. In 1769 he patented a water-powered spinning machine that could spin a vast number of threads. This enabled the largescale mechanisation of the cotton industry. In 1771 he established his famous cotton mill at Cromford, Derbyshire, from where he developed an industrial empire. Arkwright was the first of the 'cotton kings' and is acknowledged as the founding father of the modern factory system.
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