It was the winter of 1732, when in Preston, in Lancashire, was born Richard Arkwright, the younger of thirteen brothers. The family Arkwright housed in a little cottage along river Stone's shore. Richard's father, Thomas, worked in clothing industry, a growing sector in this period, but he didn't earn enough money in order to ensure a quiet life at his big families. Richard, couldn't go to school, because it was too expensive, went nearly every day at home of his cousin Ellen, at the outside of the town, to learn how write and read.
To help the family, he started working when he was only kid, in a barber shop, which was twenty five minutes of walking from home. In 1750, Richard opened a small shop, in Bolton, near Manchester, where he started his barber's career and inventor of wigs. But in the backroom of his shop, Richard followed his passion for mechanics, and thanks to his new job he could finally finance his prototype of machine for cotton. In the meantime, he fell in love and married with Patience Holt.
Some time later his wife, while she gave birth died, but his son survived and Richard called him Richard Arkwright Junior. After the death of his wife, Richard decided to dedicate himself to his career , he became an entrepreneur to keep following his passion. He created the machine which transforms cotton in wires. Seventeen months later, his young son fell ill and died sometime after. Left alone, he moved to Nottingham with a watchmaker friend, where they patented a frame that worked at water, an invention that produced an important turning point. After this success, Richard needed more assets to invest, so he started collaborating with two rich cotton producers, Sedilah and Samuel, with whom he built the first watermill near Cromford. Richard, after the results obtained, returned home, now owner of a spinnings chain with more than 600 employees, with an office also in Scotland. Richard died then in 1972 in Cromford, his success, he encouraged many others, and thanks to his tenacity, accumulate the most injurious fortune ever made starting from nothing (almost 2 million pounds at the time)
