Mechanical flax spinning
Hilatura mecánica del lino
- Date
- 1810 · confidence medium
- Place
- Paris, Île-de-France, France
- Credited to
- Philippe de Girard (perfected by James Kay in 1825)
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A machine that mechanically spins long flax fibres, rewarded by Napoleon in 1810 and perfected with wet spinning in England. It allowed fine linen thread to be made on a large scale and competed with cotton.
Girard patented the machine in 1810 but did not exploit it successfully in France and went into exile; commercial success came with Kay (wet spinning, Preston, 1825) and English entrepreneurs. Who should be credited with the effective invention is disputed.
What it led to
- flax industry of Leeds, Belfast and Dundee
- mechanical linen for sails, canvas and household linen
- industrialisation of Flanders and Northern Ireland