Person

Richard Arkwright

1732–1792 · 18th century

Richard Arkwright was an English inventor and industrialist, often called the father of the factory system. He patented the water frame, a spinning machine driven by water power, in 1769, and from 1771 built a water-powered cotton mill at Cromford in Derbyshire, with housing for its workers. His mills were widely copied in Britain and abroad, and he was knighted in 1786.

Richard Arkwright
Image: Mather Brown · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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Kingdom of Great BritainSocioeconomy

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Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Richard Arkwright. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/richard-arkwright
MLA
“Richard Arkwright.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/richard-arkwright. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Richard Arkwright.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/richard-arkwright.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Richard Arkwright’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/richard-arkwright (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻