born Dec. 3, 1753, Firwood, Lancashire, Eng.
died June 26, 1827, Bolton, Lancashire
British inventor.
His spinning mule (probably called a mule because it was a cross between inventions of Richard Arkwright and James Hargreaves ) permitted large-scale manufacture of high-quality thread and yarn by simultaneously drawing out and giving the final twisting to the cotton fibres fed into it, reproducing mechanically the actions of hand spinning.