James Hargreaves (c. 1720 – 22 April 1778) was an English weaver, carpenter and inventor who lived and worked in Lancashire, England. Hargreaves is credited with inventing the spinning jenny in 1764.
He was one of three men responsible for the mechanisation of spinning: Richard Arkwright patented the water frame in 1769 and Samuel Crompton combined the two, creating the spinning mule in 1779.
The spinning jenny is a multi-spindle spinning frame, and was one of the key developments in the industrialisation of textile manufacturing during the early Industrial Revolution. It was invented in 1764–1765 by James Hargreaves in Stan Hill, Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire in England.
The device reduced the amount of work needed to produce cloth, with a worker able to work eight or more spools at once. This grew to 120 as technology advanced. The yarn produced by the jenny was not very strong until Richard Arkwright invented the water-powered water frame. The spinning jenny helped to start the factory system of cotton manufacturing.
Oswaldtwistle (/ˈɒzwəl.twɪzəl/ "ozzle twizzle") is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England, 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Blackburn, contiguous with Accrington. The town has a rich industrial heritage, being home to James Hargreaves, inventor of the spinning jenny, and Robert "Parsley" Peel of calico printing fame. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal passes through the town and was responsible for the export of much of the area's cotton produce.
At the 2011 census, it had a population of 11,803. In 2021 the population had decreased to 10,815
Samuel Crompton (3 December 1753 – 26 June 1827) was an English inventor and pioneer of the spinning industry. Building on the work of James Hargreaves and Richard Arkwright, he invented the spinning mule, a machine that revolutionised the industry worldwide.