Lewis Paul died in 1759. He was the original inventor of roller spinning, which became the basis for the water frame used in cotton mills to spin cotton.
Life and work
Lewis Paul was descended from the Huguenots. His father was a doctor for Lord Shaftesbury. He may have started designing a spinning machine for cotton as early as 1729, but likely did not make real progress until after 1732, when he met John Wyatt, a carpenter working in Birmingham for a company that made gun barrels. Wyatt had created a machine, probably for cutting files, which interested Paul.
Paul had the idea for roller spinning, and Wyatt built a machine (or model) for him. Paul received a patent for this invention on June 24, 1738. He then tried to license his machine, though some licenses were given to settle debts. In 1741, he built a machine powered by two donkeys near his home in Old Square, Birmingham.
Mills using the roller spinning patent
Edward Cave, a publisher, got a license and placed machines in a warehouse in London. In 1742, he bought Marvel's Mill on the River Nene in Northampton. He rebuilt the mill to include four or five water-powered spinning machines, each with 50 spindles. This made it the first cotton mill. Cave died on January 10, 1754, so the mill passed to his brother William and his nephew Paul. Samuel Touchet, a London merchant, had the mill until 1755 but did not make any profit. It may have then been rented to Lewis Paul, but he died in 1759. The Caves lost the lease due to not paying rent in March 1761 and advertised the mill for rent in November 1761. By 1768, the mill had become a corn mill again.
Another mill that used Paul's patent was in Leominster. This was built in 1744 by John Bourn in partnership with Henry Morris of Lancashire. The mill burned down in November 1754.
Carding machines
In 1748, Daniel Bourn and Lewis Paul each received patents for carding machines. These machines were probably used in the Leominster and Northampton mills. The carding technology developed by Lewis Paul and Daniel Bourn became the foundation for later carding machines.
Achievements
John Kay and Thomas Highs improved the principle of the rolling spinning process, and Richard Arkwright helped spread this method. Paul's machine was only somewhat profitable, and it is unclear how much of his work influenced Arkwright's more successful machine, the water frame, which was patented in 1769. Like Paul and Bourn, Arkwright later added a carding stage to his machinery. However, his attempt to extend his patent rights beyond the original patent's end failed because the improvement was not his invention.