CARTWRIGHT, EDMUND

born April 24, 1743, Marnham, Nottinghamshire, Eng. died Oct. 30, 1823, Hastings, Sussex English inventor of the first wool-combing machine and of the predecessor of the modern power loom. Cartwright began his career as a clergyman, becoming, in 1779, rector of Goadby Marwood, Leicestershire; in 1786 he was a prebendary in Lincoln (Lincolnshire) cathedral. He probably would have spent his life as an obscure country clergyman had his attention not been turned to Sir Richard Arkwright's cotton-spinning mills at Cromford, Derbyshire, which he saw on a visit in 1784. Inspired to construct a similar machine for weaving, he invented a crude power loom, first patented in 1785. That same year he set up a weaving and spinning factory in Doncaster, Yorkshire, but had to surrender it to creditors in 1793. In 1789 he had patented a wool-combing machine; although it lowered manufacturing costs, it did not benefit Cartwright financially. In 1809, however, the House of Commons voted Cartwright 10,000 in recognition of benefits conferred on the nation through his power loom. His other inventions included a cordelier (machine for making rope; 1792) and a steam engine that used alcohol instead of water.