Richard Arkwright, British inventor of textile machinery, 1780-1792.

Engraving of Sir Richard Arkwright (1732-1792) who was the inventor of the first practical means of mechanical spinning using rollers. The invention of the spinning machine revolutionised the production of yarn and led to rapid mechanisation throughout Britain. Although Arkwright's first installation was worked by a horse, water wheels were generally used, so the spinning machines came to be called water frames.