Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book deals with significant issues in the development of the British cotton and textile industries. It examines how entrepreneurs responded to profit signals in formulating their investment and reinvestment decisions. The choices they faced were between traditional intermittent mule spinning, in conjunction with the Lancashire power loom, and continuous ring spinning, developed from the 1870s, in conjunction with the automatic loom, introduced from the 1890s. The book examines that ring spindles suffered from several technical deficiencies, reducing their efficiency and adaptability beyond a certain range of specific types of yarn. There were few reasons why Lancashire entrepreneurs were reluctant to extend ring spinning in the nineteenth century. The book also examines that whereas it saved on raw material costs and offered higher gross margins, it was more labour intensive.