CROMPTON, SAMUEL

born Dec. 3, 1753, Firwood, near Bolton, Lancashire, Eng. died June 26, 1827, Bolton British inventor of the spinning mule, which permitted large-scale manufacture of high-quality thread and yarn. As a youth Crompton spun cotton on a spinning jenny for his family; its defects inspired him to try to invent a better device. In 1779, after devoting all his spare time and money to the effort, he produced a machine that simultaneously drew out and gave the final twisting to the cotton fibres fed into it, reproducing mechanically the actions of hand spinning. Probably the machine was called a mule because it was a cross between the machines invented by Sir Richard Arkwright and James Hargreaves. Demand for Crompton's yarn was heavy, but he could not afford a patent. He therefore revealed the machine's secret to a number of manufacturers on the promise that they would pay him. All he received was 60. Years later (in 1812), when there were at least 360 mills using 4,600,000 mule spindles, Parliament granted him 5,000. He used it to enter business, unsuccessfully, first as a bleacher and then as a cotton merchant and spinner.