Edmund CartwrightFSA(24 April 1743 – 30 October 1823) was an English inventor.[1]He graduated fromOxford Universityand went on to invent thepower loom.Married to local Elizabeth McMac at 19, he was the brother ofMajor John Cartwright,a political reformer and radical, andGeorge Cartwright,explorer of Labrador.
Edmund Cartwright | |
|---|---|
 Edmund Cartwright | |
| Born | 24 April 1743 (N.S.) |
| Died | 30 October 1823(aged 80) |
| Resting place | Battle,Sussex |
| Nationality | English |
| Education | Oxford University |
| Occupation(s) | Clergyman, inventor |
| Known for | Power loom |
| Signature | |
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Life
editHe was the fourth son of William Cartwright and his wife Anne née Cartwright, born atMarnham, Nottinghamshire.[1]He was educated atQueen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield.He matriculated in 1760 atUniversity College, Oxford,where he had studied under-age from 1757. He graduated B.A. in 1764, M.A. in 1766, elected aFellowofMagdalen College, Oxfordin 1764.[1][2][3]He was awarded the degree ofDDin 1806.[4]
Ordained deacon in theChurch of Englandin 1765, and priest in 1767, Cartwright was appointed rector ofKilvingtonin 1767. With other livings, in 1779 he became also rector ofGoadby Marwood,Leicestershire,and in 1783, he was elected aprebendaryatLincoln Cathedral.[5]
For a time Cartwright served as chaplain to theDuke of BedfordatWoburn Abbeyand acted as tutor to the Duke's son, the future Prime MinisterLord John Russell.[6]Following the award of the parliamentary grant, Cartwright purchased a small farm inKent,where he spent the rest of his life.[4]
Edmund Cartwright died inSussexafter a lingering illness[7]and was buried atBattle.[8]
Power loom
editCartwright designed his firstpower loomin 1784 and patented it in 1785, after some contact with textile men from Manchester; its value was only inproof of concept,but the type of design continued into the 20th century. Subsequent research and development work by others is now given much of the credit for a practical powered loom.[1]In 1809 Cartwright obtained a grant of £10,000 from parliament for his invention.[4]
In 1789, Cartwright patented another loom which served as the model for later inventors to work upon. For a mechanically driven loom to become a commercial success, either one person would have to be able to attend to more than one machine, or each machine must have a greater productive capacity than one manually controlled. He added improvements, including a positive let-off motion,warpandweftstop motions, and sizing the warp while the loom was in action. He commenced to manufacture fabrics inDoncasterusing these looms, and discovered many of their shortcomings. He attempted to remedy these in a number of ways: by introducing a crank and eccentric wheels to actuate its batten differentially, by improving the picking mechanism, by means of a device for stopping the loom when ashuttlefailed to enter a shuttle box, by preventing a shuttle from rebounding when in a box, and by stretching the cloth with temples that acted automatically. His mill was repossessed by creditors in 1793.[4]
In 1792, Cartwright obtained his final patent for weaving machinery; this provided his loom with multiple shuttle boxes for weaving checks and cross stripes.[4]All his efforts were unavailing, however; it became apparent that no mechanism, however perfect, could succeed so long as warps continued to be sized while a loom was stationary. His plans for sizing them while a loom was in operation, and before being placed in a loom, failed. These problems were resolved in 1803, byWilliam Radcliffeand his assistant Thomas Johnson, by their inventions of thebeam warper,and thedressing sizing machine.
In 1790Robert GrimshawofGorton,Manchestererected a weaving factory atKnott Millwhich he intended to fill with 500 of Cartwright's power looms, but with only 30 in place the factory was burnt down, probably as an act of arson inspired by the fears ofhand loomweavers.The prospect of success was not sufficiently promising to induce its re-erection.
In May 1821, Cartwright was elected aFellow of the Royal Society.[9]
Other inventions
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Cartwright patented awool combing machinein 1789 and a cordelier (machine for making rope) in 1792. He also designed a steam engine that used alcohol instead of water.[4]
Works
editCartwright hadJohn Langhorneas a tutor, and developed as a minor poet. He published the poemArmine and Elvirain 1770, which was followed byThe Prince of Peacein 1779, directed against theAmerican Revolutionary War.[1][10]HisSonnets to Eminent Men(1783) included anodetoThomas Howard, 3rd Earl of Effingham,a conspicuous supporter of American independence.[11][12]
Family
editCartwright married in 1772, Alice Whitaker, daughter of Alderman Richard Whitaker of Doncaster, who died in 1785.[1]Their second daughterElizabeth(1780–1837) married theReverend John Penroseand wrote books under the pseudonym "Mrs Markham".[13]Their daughter Mary married Henry Eustatius Strickland, a younger son ofSir George Strickland, 5th Baronet,and was mother ofHugh Edwin Strickland.[14]She was her father's biographer, publishingA Memoir of the Life, Writings, and Inventions, of Edmund Cartwright, D.D. FRS(1843) which incorporated a memoir by Cartwright.[8][15]
Their son the Rev. Edmund Cartwright (1773–1833) was a Fellow of the Royal Society and of theSociety of Antiquaries of London.[16]The youngest child of the marriage wasFrances Dorothy Cartwright,poet and biographer of her uncle the radical Major John Cartwright.[17]
Cartwright married secondly, in 1790, Susannah Kearney, daughter of John Kearney. He was survived by her and the four children above from his first marriage.[1] Growing up he also had many siblings, including the famous John Cartwright.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abcdefgHunt, David. "Cartwright, Edmund (1743–1823)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4813.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^Foster, Joseph(1888–1891)..Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886.Oxford: James Parker – viaWikisource.
- ^"Edmund Cartwright".Lemelson-MIT.MIT.Retrieved18 October2016.
- ^abcdefChisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)..Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 435.
- ^"Andrewes, Lancelot (1765–1824)".The Clergy of the Church of England Database 1540–1835.CCEd Person ID 9850.Retrieved5 September2023.
- ^Scherer, Paul (1999).Lord John Russell: A Biography.Susquehanna University Press. p. 5.ISBN9781575910215.
- ^Cave, Edward(1833)."Obituary: Rev. Edmund Cartwright".Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle.Edward Cave: 374.
- ^abStrickland, Mary (1843).A Memoir of the Life, Writings, and Inventions, of Edmund Cartwright, D.D. FRS, Inventor of the Power Loom, Etc. Etc.London: Saunders and Otley.Retrieved21 April2008.
- ^"Library and Archive Catalogue".Royal Society.Retrieved21 December2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^Cartwright, Edmund (1772).Armine and Elvira: A Legendary Tale(3 ed.). London: John Murray.
Edmund Cartwright.
- ^Cartwright, Edmund (1783).Sonnets to eminent men. And an ode to the Earl of Effingham. [By Edmund Cartwright.].J. Murray; T. Becket.
- ^Koch, Christine Marie (4 January 2020).Salzburger Migrants and Communal Memory in Georgia.LIT Verlag Münster. p. 102 note 508.ISBN978-3-643-91299-2.
- ^Mitchell, Rosemary. "Penrose [née Cartwright], Elizabeth [pseud. Mrs Markham] (1780–1837)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21889.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^"The Late H. E. Strickland, Esq".Tewkesbury Register.31 July 1858. p. 5.
- ^Wood, Henry Trueman (1912)."The Royal Society of Arts. VII.—The Officials. The Transactions. The Council. The Charter. (1761-1847)".Journal of the Royal Society of Arts.60(3098): 532.ISSN0035-9114.JSTOR41340109.
- ^Foster, Joseph(1888–1891)..Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886.Oxford: James Parker – viaWikisource.
- ^Mitchell, Rosemary. "Cartwright, Frances Dorothy (1780–1863)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
External links
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- "Edmund Cartwright and the power loom"– at Cotton Times
- "Richard Arkwright and Edmund Cartwright: Inventors of Important Textile Manufacturing Machines"– at Grimshaw Origins