Cartwright, Edmund (1743-1823), was an English inventor and clergyman. He developed a steam-powered loom for weaving cotton fabric that led to the invention of more effective power looms and to the development of the modern weaving industry.
Cartwright was born at Marnham, in Nottinghamshire. He graduated from Oxford University and became pastor of a rural parish in Leicestershire. In 1784, Cartwright learned of the need for a weaving machine that could make cloth faster than the hand loom. He became convinced that he could make a power loom even though he had never seen a loom in operation. Cartwright’s first weaving machine, patented in 1785, required two strong people to operate it for a short time and was not much more effective than a hand loom. But in 1786, Cartwright invented a steam-powered loom, and the next year he used it in a spinning and weaving factory that he opened at Doncaster.
In 1791, a mill at Manchester ordered 400 of Cartwright’s looms. But workers who feared the new power machinery would eliminate their jobs burned down the mill. A few other manufacturers tried to use Cartwright’s loom, but their efforts failed and Cartwright closed his factory in 1793. Although Cartwright’s looms were never fully practical, Parliament recognized his pioneering work in 1809 by awarding him the equivalent of $50,000.
Cartwright also invented a grain-cutting machine for farmers and a wool-combing machine that could be used to prepare wool fiber for weaving. But neither invention brought him much money. Cartwright died on Oct. 30, 1823.
