Edmund Cartwright FSA was an English inventor. He graduated from Oxford University very early 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.
Cartwright was educated at Oxford University and began a career in the church, eventually becoming prebendary of Lincoln Cathedral from 1786 until his death.He probably would have spent his life as an obscure country clergyman had his attention not been turned to Sir Richard Arkwright’s cotton-spinning mills at Cromford, Derbyshire, which he saw on a visit in 1784. Inspired by what he saw, he began working on a machine that would improve the speed and quality of weaving. With the help of a blacksmith and a carpenter, Cartwright produced his power loom, which he patented (1785). The invention revolutionised weaving, changing it from a manual process into a mechanical one. By 1787, he opened a weaving mill in Doncaster. Two years later, he powered his looms with steam engines produced by James Watt and Matthew Boulton. A Manchester company purchased 400 of his looms, He also invented a machine for combing wool. Later Cartwright moved on to other projects, including the invention and patenting of a wool-combing machine in 1790, a concept for interlocking bricks for construction in 1795, and an alcohol engine in 1797. That year, he also patented a fireproof flooring material made of fired clay. Later works included improvements to the steam engine and other modifications for engines and textile machinery.