The cotton industry was the first to benefit from the inventions of the industrial revolution. By the 1760s, weaving had been made more efficient by the ‘flying shuttle’. Between the 1760s and 1780s, the production of spun cotton was transformed by new machines such as the 'spinning jenny', the water frame and the ‘mule’, and steam power.

By 1830, cotton production had almost doubled and the population of Manchester had grown by 47%. Weaving kept pace with improved spinning technology by employing more (male) handloom weavers. During the 1830s, wages fell dramatically, helped by an influx of poor Irish immigrants prepared to work for starvation rates. The availability of cheap labour delayed the mechanisation of weaving, but eventually manufacturers found that it was cheaper to employ women and children to work power looms.

The ‘distress’ of the unemployed handloom weavers in the 1830s and 1840s aroused public concern, but little was done. The weavers had few alternatives. Unlike skilled printers, tailors, or cabinet makers, their work could be learnt quickly by others. Only those who could do extra fine or specialised work could continue to scrape a living.