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18th
Century Water Powered Cotton Mills
Richard
Arkwright and David Dale visited the Clyde in
1783. Being the son of a wealthy cloth merchant,
David Dale viewed the falls with a view to capturing
the power to drive his father's cotton spinning
machines. Richard Arkwright had invented a
spinning machine called the "water frame"
which needed much more power than could be supplied by
an individual family. In those times it was
common for looms and spinning machines to be operated
and run in this fashion. However, these two
gents wanted to operate hundreds of these new machines
in one location, so making the best of one power
source to reduce complications.
So
it was that within ten years Dale built a new village,
eventually to be settled by some 2500 people.
The newly created village was called New Lanark, and
centered around Dale's new mill factories. It is sure
this development had a huge impact on the lives of
Highlanders who had not previously seen buildings of
such complexity.
Robert
Owen
New
Lanark soon returned good profits for its
operators. Dale's daughter married a gentleman
named Robert Owen. So it was that Owen took over
the running of the mill. It was Owen's life
ambition to benefit humanity, through productivity,
but also to improve the lives of his employees.
Robert
Owen introduced the idea of education for all and the
then revolutionary idea that children should not be
allowed to work in the mills before the age of
ten. In 1809 he established Nursery Buildings to
improve living conditions of children and apprentices.
In
1817 The School for Children was founded for the
education of children between the ages of one and
ten. Revolutionary for the time, the school's
policy was based on Owen's philosophy of
"rational approach"; there was no punishment
only encouragement and kindness.
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