xiv Proceedings. [December loth, icoi. 



the Dutch loom was introduced into Lancashire. Paper making 

 had been introduced by foreigners in the reign of Henry VIII., 

 and a few mills existed in the time of Elizabeth, but the 

 best paper for printing books came from the Continent. From 

 Holland came improved windmills and the waterwheel, whilst 

 Dutch engineers were engaged in erecting pumps and providing 

 water supplies, and the Norfolk Broads and the Bedford Level 

 were also finished under Dutch management in the reign of 

 Charles II. The goldsmiths of Bristol, York, and London did 

 some good work, but in metal-work and in textile fabrics we were 

 much inferior to foreign countries, both in design and 

 manufacture. 



Soon after the commencement of the eighteenth century, 

 Manchester and Liverpool increased rapidly in importance, and 

 Manchester in 1720 obtained a Bill for making the river Irwell 

 navigable to the Mersey and to the sea. The increased facilities 

 thus afforded gave a great impetus to the industrial prosperity 

 of Lancashire. 



The greater demand for textile goods for export caused those 

 engaged in the trade to desire means of increasing the production, 

 and the fly shuttle, an invention that doubled or trebled the 

 output of the weaver, came from Kay, of Bury, in 1733. Many 

 other machines were invented by the unfortunate Kay, who was. 

 much ill-used by those whom he had benefited, and was obliged 

 to leave Bury to save his life. He died in jjoverty and obscurity 

 in France, the place of his burial being unknown. This new 

 system of weaving quickly exhausted all the productions cf the 

 spinsters, for the new looms could use more weft and warp in a 

 day than the spinsters could produce in a week. Inventors 

 were thus naturally led to consider how to increase the production 

 of the spinning wheel, the result being the invention of the 

 spini ing je ny. A careful consideration of the claims of James 

 Hargreavis, of Black. urn, and Thomas Ha)es, of Leigh, tends 

 to prove that tliey invented the spinning jenny simultaneously 

 andindep.nde tly. Between 1766 and 1769 Hayes produced 

 one with six spindles, and, about the same time, Hargreaves 

 made one with twelve spindles. 



