James Kay (born near Entwistle,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, 1774; died Turton,

, 1857) was a British inventor who developed a successful wet spinning process for flax in 1824, helping industrialise linen spinning in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

. Thus allowing it to be a great commercial success and gain a forefront position in the world. His process is still used to spin fine linen yarns, although mainly in Russia and China. Kay was born at Edgefold Farm near Entwistle, Lancashire, and became a successful spinner with mills at Preston, Penny Bridge and Pendleton. There were difficulties with Kay's patent application in 1825, which had been taken out for fourteen years. It seems he had been badly advised when his patent was drawn up. This resulted in the validity of his new development being disputed by

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

, of

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. Kay was forced to sue Marshall in court in 1835 for non-payment for the use of his patent, but the defendants disputed the validity of the patent on the grounds that so far as the invention was new it was useless (maceration process), and that so far as it was useful it was not new (spinning process with 2½ inch ratch). In 1839, the Court found that as the patent was taken out for an invention consisting of two parts, one of which was not new (considered too similar to the patent of

Horace Hall Philippe Henri de Girard patented in France spinning frames for both the dry and wet spinning of flax. His inventions were also patented in England in 1815, in the name of Horace Hall. Little is known about Horace Hall, it is a possible pseudonym. ...

), the whole was found void. Kay also failed in his 1841 appeal. It was possibly as a result of the court cases, and the surrounding controversy, that he failed to get any real recognition for what he did. Which was at the very least to make an adaption and market the new device in such a way as to give British industry the confidence to use it. Kay died at

Turton Tower Turton Tower is a manor house in Chapeltown in North Turton, Borough of Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire, England. It is a scheduled ancient monument and a grade I listed building. It was built in the late Middle Ages as a two-storey stone p ...

, Turton, Lancashire, on 10 February 1857. A recent industrial biography describes the development of his flax wet spinning process, his mills and his patent dispute with James Marshall.

References

Kay v Marshall Court CaseThe Kay familyKay family historyJames Kay of Turton Tower: Inventor and Flax Spinner (1774-1857)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, James 1774 births 1857 deaths British businesspeople English mechanical engineers British inventors Engineers from Lancashire People from Blackburn with Darwen