Developments in key industries 1812-32

Question 1

What was the most significant development in the cotton industry?

Answer 1

The introduction of the power loom

Question 2

Why was the the power loom so important?

Answer 2

Because it allowed large amounts of cloth to be produced under one factory roof

Question 3

How did Richard Roberts develop the power loom in the 1820s?

Answer 3

He devised a reliable cast iron version compared to Cartwright’s wooden, clumsy and more inefficient version. This popular version was used extensively in textile factories and revolutionised cloth production

Question 4

Give a statistic to display the increasing popularity of the power loom at this time?

Answer 4

The number in operation rose from 2,400 in 1803 to about 100,000 30 years later

Question 5

What was the most important technological improvement to the iron industry during this period?

Answer 5

The introduction of Neilson’s hot air blast furnace in 1828

Question 6

What was the benefit of Neilson’s hot air blast furnace?

Answer 6

It meant a better quality of iron could be produced and raw coal could be used instead of coke - this made the process cheaper and more efficient

Question 7

How was the invention described in Encyclopaedia Britannica at the time?

Answer 7

As having ‘effected an entire revolution on the iron industry of GB’

Question 8

Describe innovation in the coal industry at this time

Answer 8

Although there was a massive increase in the output of coal, there was surprisingly little invention in the coal mining industry in the early 19th century

Question 9

Describe coalmines at this time

Answer 9

They were still relatively small and dangerous places to work

Question 10

What was the biggest killer in the coal mines?

Answer 10

Methane gas

Question 11

Explain the small improvements made to safety in the coal mines

Answer 11

• A safety lamp was devised in 1813 that inserted a guaze around the naked flame to prevent explosions
• An air pump was developed to help ventiliation

Question 12

Why was the coal industry still able to thrive despite the lack of innovation at this time?

Answer 12

Because there was sufficient human labour to meet the increased demand

Question 13

What happened to the efficiency of the steam engine in the post war years?

Answer 13

It was improved by a series of refinements and within a short amount of time was applied successfully to the new railway system

Question 14

Why was steam power first experimented with as a means of transport?

Answer 14

Because a more efficient way of transporting coal from the pit head to factories and other markets was needed

Question 15

Who is regarded as as the genius who conceived and delivered the beginning of the modern railway system?

Answer 15

George Stephenson

Question 16

What was Stephenson’s big contribution?

Answer 16

He was the engineer for the first passenger railway line using steam locomotives. This was the Liverpool-Manchester line that opened in 1830

Question 17

What did the opening of the Liverpool-Manchester line catalyse?

Answer 17

The beginning of large scale public railways in GB, as its immediate success prompted a rash of railway companies building railway lines across the country

Question 18

How did the railway make such a huge impact on the industrial age?

Answer 18

It got the economy moving by transporting people and goods at high speeds and low costs

Question 19

What was the immediate positive consequence of the railway system?

Answer 19

It required a labour force of thousands and so increased employment. It also gave a great boost to the iron and coal industries

Question 20

How do Williams and Ramsden describe this period?

Answer 20

These were the years when Britain’s economic strength, naval power and far flung empire gave her a global supremacy not approached after or since. It was a period that the later Victorians would look back on as a golden age