John Kay (flying shuttle)

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name = John Kay

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caption =John Kay
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birth_date = June 17, 1704
birth_place = Bury, Lancashire, England
death_date = 1780
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nationality = England
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known_for = flying shuttle
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John Kay (June 17, 1704 – 1780) was the inventor of the flying shuttle, which was a key contribution to the Industrial Revolution.He was born in Bury, Lancashire, England. The flying shuttle greatly accelerated the speed at which weaving could be performed by allowing the shuttle carrying the weft to be passed through the warp threads more quickly and over a greater width of cloth. The production of cotton yarn was generally insufficient to keep up with the demand for hand-loom weavers, so his invention was not appreciated by weavers who thought it would steal their jobs; consequently he was persecuted and his constructions were damaged or destroyed. He fled England to France to try and sell his invention in that market, but he failed there as well and died from being poor. His son Robert stayed in England, and developed the drop box, which allowed looms to use wefts of multiple colours. Ford Madox Brown portrayed Kay and his invention in a mural painting in Manchester Town Hall.

This John Kay should not be confused with the clockmaker from Warrington who was associated with Richard Arkwright in the invention of the spinning frame.

Some sources claim that John Kay had a connection with Colchester in Essex.Whilst Colchester had a long association with weaving and the wool trade this link seems to rely on an 1848 source (White's History Gazetteer and Directory of the County of Essex) which has been repeated uncritically by later writers. There is an exploration of this in an article by Don Scott in the Essex Journal (Spring 2008 pages 6-9) which finds no independent evidence of the Colchester connection.This article also explores the archives of the Royal Society of Arts and their dealings with John Kay.

External links

* [http://www.cottontown.org/page.cfm?pageid=605&language=eng Essay on John Kay and the flying shuttle]
* [http://www.cottontimes.co.uk/JohnKayo.htm Essay from the "Cotton Times"]
* [http://www.johnkay.com/strategy/267 Essay on the two John Kays of the Industrial Revolution]
* [http://www.cottontown.org Cotton Town website]

Persondata
NAME= Kay, John
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DATE OF BIRTH= June 23, 1704
PLACE OF BIRTH= Bury, Lancashire, England
DATE OF DEATH= 1780
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