Hargreaves, James

Hargreaves, James (1720-1778), British inventor and industrialist, probably born in Blackburn, Lancashire. In 1760 he invented, or aided in inventing, a carding machine that prepared fibre for spinning into thread. The spinning jenny, which Hargreaves is credited with inventing in 1764 and which he named after his daughter, made possible the automatic production of cotton thread. A spinning mill was erected by Hargreaves in Nottingham in 1768, and he achieved moderate success as a yarn manufacturer in competition with other users of the jenny. In spite of opposition by handworkers, spinning became a factory industry and an important part of the factory system in England.