John kay flying shuttle testimonials

The Flying Shuttle was one of the most important inventions of the early Industrial Revolution. Before its invention, weaving had mostly been a cottage industry done in small home workshops. After its invention, large factory looms began putting small-scale hand weavers out of business. The speed of the Flying Shuttle factory loom drove the invention of machine spinning, which in turn created a huge demand for cotton.

The Flying Shuttle was invented by John Kay in 1733. He was seeking for a new kind of shuttle that would speed up the relatively slow pace of hand weaving. The role of the shuttle is to insert the weft between the warp threads on the loom. The warp threads run vertically from the front of the loom to the back, and the weaver raises some threads while lowering others. This creates the “shed,” and the shuttle is thrown through the shed by the human hand, traditionally.

The Flying Shuttle

On a traditional shuttle, the weft rolls off a bobbin in the shuttle and comes out one side of the shuttle. John Kay invented a shuttle that was mechanically thrown. The weaver never touches the shuttle except to change the bobbin. This invention greatly sped up the weaving process and made it possible to weave much wider cloths. The new invention was controversial because it drove some hand weavers out of business.

A Flying Shuttle on a Nilart

Kay’s invention paved the way for mechanical power looms, however, the technology would have to wait another 30 years before a power loom was invented by Edmund Cartwright in 1787. Cartwright continued to make improvements on subsequent iterations of the power loom and established a factory in Doncaster to mass produce them. However, he had no experience or knowledge in business or industry so was unable to successfully market his power looms, using his factory only to test out new inventions. He invented a wool-combing machine in 1789 and continued to improve his power lo

In 1733 English inventor John Kay received a patent for  a "wheeled shuttle" for the hand loom, which greatly accelerated weaving by allowing the shuttle carrying the weft to be passed through the warp threads faster and over a greater width of cloth. It was designed for the broad loom, for which it greatly reduced labor, as it required only one operator per loom. In the traditional process before Kay's invention a second worker was needed to catch the shuttle. Kay called this invention a "wheeled shuttle", but others used the name "fly-shuttle" (and later, "flying shuttle") because of its continuous speed, especially when a young worker was using it in a narrow loom.

"The shuttle was described as travelling at "a speed which cannot be imagined, so great that the shuttle can only be seen like a tiny cloud which disappears the same instant."

"In July 1733, Kay formed a partnership in Colchester, Essex to begin fly-shuttle manufacturing. No industrial unrest was anticipated, this being the first device of the modern era to significantly enhance productivity. But by September 1733 the Colchester weavers, were so concerned for their livelihoods that they petitioned the King to stop Kay's inventions.

The flying shuttle was to create a particular imbalance by doubling weaving productivity without changing the rate at which thread could be spun, disrupting spinners and weavers alike" (Wikipedia article on John Kay (flying shuttle), accessed 12-2018).

The first attempt at a formal account of John’s life and origins that used primary source material was made by John Lord in his ‘Memoir of John Kay: Inventor of the Fly-Shuttle’ (published in 1908). The picture reproduced here is taken from that work, though there can be no guarantee of its authenticity. John Lord admitted as much; he had four possible pictures, and felt that this one displayed the gravitas befitting his subject (see note). Other pictures on this page are of the John Kay memorial in Bury.

The definitive work on John’s life can be found in the two chapters on John Kay by Julia Mann in ‘The Cotton Trade and Industrial Lancashire’ (1931). If you are looking for a summary of that or for more information, the article in the Dictionary of National Biography (2004 Edition) is excellent; nearly all UK public libraries offer free on-line access. Our intention is to research his antecedents and descendants, but we do need to give a brief synopsis of his life here to put that research in context. The account given here is derived from the work of John Lord and Julia Mann, and from notes compiled by Rita Hirst based on a lecture she gave on John Kay in 1983. Rita ha

In 1733, John Kay invented the flying shuttle—an improvement to weaving looms and a key contribution to the Industrial Revolution.

Early Years

Kay was born on June 17, 1704, in the Lancashire hamlet of Walmersley. His father, Robert, was a farmer and wool manufacturer but died before he was born. Thus, John's mother was responsible for educating him until she remarried.

John Kay was just a young man when he became the manager of one of his father's mills. He developed skills as a machinist and engineer and made many improvements to the machines in the mill. He apprenticed with a hand-loom reed maker and also designed a metal substitute for the natural reed that became popular enough to sell throughout England. After traveling the country making, fitting, and selling his wire reeds, Kay returned home and, in June 1725, married a woman from Bury. 

The Flying Shuttle

The flying shuttle was an improvement to the loom that enabled weavers to work faster. The original tool contained a bobbin onto which the weft (crossways) yarn was wound. It was normally pushed from one side of the warp (the series of yarns that extended lengthways in a loom) to the other side by hand. Because of this, large looms needed two weavers to throw the shuttle.

Alternatively, Kay's flying shuttle was thrown by a lever that could be operated by just one weaver. The shuttle was able to do the work of two people—and more quickly.

In Bury, John Kay continued to design improvements to textile machinery; in 1730 he patented a cording and twisting machine for worsted.

These innovations were not without consequences, however. In 1753, Kay's home was attacked by textile workers who were angry that his inventions might take work away from them. Kay ultimately fled England for France where he died in poverty around 1780.

Influence and Legacy of John Kay

Kay's invention paved the way for other me