Samuel Crompton, Inventor of the Mule Spinning Frame

Thomas 'Oldham' Barlow 1829 - 1889

Summary

A seated portrait of Samuel Crompton (1753-1827), inventor of the 'spinning mule', which speeded up cotton spinning, thus contributing to the industrial revolution. Compton appears to be middle aged and melancholy: he rests the side of his head on his knuckles and gazes almost anxiously towards the right. His hair is short and he wears dark, double-breasted clothing. The portrait is contained within an oval, and has a facsimile of the sitter's signature to the bottom right. This print retains the mount that it was given on January 22, 1925, by Edward Gleadhill, the foreman of the Horsfall Museum, an educational museum in Ancoats, Manchester.