Edmund Cartwright (24 April 174330 October 1823) was an English inventor. He graduated from Oxford University and went on to invent the power loom. Married to local Elizabeth McMac at 19, he was the brother of Major John Cartwright, a political reformer and radical, and George Cartwright, explorer of Labrador.
Life
He was the fourth son of William Cartwright and his wife Anne née Cartwright, born at Marnham, Nottinghamshire. He was awarded the degree of DD in 1806.
Ordained deacon in the Church of England in 1765, and priest in 1767, Cartwright was appointed rector of Kilvington in 1767. With other livings, in 1779 he became also rector of Goadby Marwood, Leicestershire, and in 1783, he was elected a prebendary at Lincoln Cathedral.
For a time Cartwright served as chaplain to the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey and acted as tutor to the Duke's son, the future Prime Minister Lord John Russell. Following the award of the parliamentary grant, Cartwright purchased a small farm in Kent, where he spent the rest of his life. and was buried at Battle.
Power loom
Cartwright designed his first power loom in 1784 and patented it in 1785, after some contact with textile men from Manchester; its value was only in proof of concept, but the type of design continued into the 20th century. Subsequent research and development work by others is now given much of the credit for a practical powered loom.
Other inventions
thumb|Ropemaking machine of Edmund Cartwright
Cartwright patented a wool combing machine in 1789 and a cordelier (machine for making rope) in 1792. He also designed a steam engine that used alcohol instead of water. His Sonnets to Eminent Men (1783) included an ode to Thomas Howard, 3rd Earl of Effingham, a conspicuous supporter of American independence.
Family
Cartwright married in 1772, Alice Whitaker, daughter of Alderman Richard Whitaker of Doncaster, who died in 1785. Their daughter Mary married Henry Eustatius Strickland, a younger son of Sir George Strickland, 5th Baronet, and was mother of Hugh Edwin Strickland. She was her father's biographer, publishing A Memoir of the Life, Writings, and Inventions, of Edmund Cartwright, D.D. FRS (1843) which incorporated a memoir by Cartwright.
Their son the Rev. Edmund Cartwright (1773–1833) was a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Society of Antiquaries of London. The youngest child of the marriage was Frances Dorothy Cartwright, poet and biographer of her uncle the radical Major John Cartwright.
Cartwright married secondly, in 1790, Susannah Kearney, daughter of John Kearney. He was survived by her and the four children above from his first marriage.