Spinning jenny
- Date
- c. 1764 · confidence medium
- Place
- Stanhill, Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- James Hargreaves
- People
- 👤 James Hargreaves1720–1778
- Field
- Tools
What it is
A multi-spindle hand-operated spinning frame that let a single worker spin eight (later up to 120) spindles at once. It multiplied cotton yarn output and broke the bottleneck between spinning and weaving.
The name 'jenny' probably derives from 'engine' in Lancashire dialect, not from a daughter of Hargreaves.
What it led to
- A fall in yarn prices and demand for faster looms
- Riots by spinners against the machine (1768)
- The start of the Lancashire cotton industry
- Industrialised domestic work (proto-industry)