Spinning jenny Spinning jenny The spinning jenny is a multi-spindle spinning frame, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early Industrial Revolution. It was invented in 1764 by James Hargreaves in Stanhill, Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire in England. The device reduced the amount of work needed to produce cloth, with a worker able to work eight or more spools at once. This grew to 120 as technology advanced. The yarn produced by the jenny was not very strong until Richard Arkwright invented the water-powered 'water frame', which produced yarn harder and stronger than that of the initial
Spinning (textiles) the spinning jenny water frame helped meet this demand through mechanisation. Its technology was specialised and costly, and employed water as motive power. Spinning and weaving as cottage industries were displaced by dedicated manufactories, developed by industrialists and their investors; the spinning and weaving industries, once widespread, were concentrated where the sources of water, raw materials and manpower were most readily available, particularly West Yorkshire. The British government was very protective of the technology and restricted its export. After World War I the colonies where the cotton was grown started to purchase and manufacture significant quantities of cotton spinning machinery.