3-455: Piccadilly Mill , also known as Bank Top Mill or Drinkwater's Mill , owned by Peter Drinkwater , was the first cotton mill in Manchester , England, to be directly powered by a steam engine , and the 10th such mill in the world. Construction of the four-storey mill on Auburn Street started in 1789 and its 8 hp Boulton and Watt engine was installed and working by 1 May 1790. Initially
6-519: The engine drove only the preparatory equipment and spinning was done manually. The mill-wright was Thomas Lowe , who had worked for William Fairbairn and helped with the planning two of Arkwright 's earliest factories. During the early 1790s the mill employed around 500 workers. Robert Owen was employed as the manager in 1792. 53°28′43″N 2°14′00″W / 53.4787°N 2.2333°W / 53.4787; -2.2333 Peter Drinkwater Peter Drinkwater (1750 – 15 November 1801)
9-657: Was an English cotton manufacturer and merchant . Born in Whalley , Lancashire , he had a successful career as a fustian manufacturer using the domestic putting-out system , and as a merchant based in Bolton and Manchester , before he turned to large-scale factory production in the 1780s. In 1782 he opened his first cotton mill on the River Weaver in Northwich , Cheshire and in 1789 he started construction of
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