80:, he built an improved machine that increased the number of needles per inch from 8 to 20 and produced a silk of finer texture, but the queen again denied him a patent because of her concern for the employment security of the kingdom's many hand knitters whose livelihood might be threatened by such mechanization. The queen said to Lee: "Thou aimest high, Master Lee. Consider thou what the invention could do to my poor subjects. It would assuredly bring to them ruin by depriving them of employment, thus making them beggars." Most likely the Queen’s concern was a manifestation of the hosiers’ guilds' fear that the invention would make the skills of its artisan members obsolete. There is no evidence for this.
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at
Calverton when he is said to have developed the machine because a woman whom he was courting showed more interest in knitting than in him (or alternatively that his wife was a very slow knitter). His first machine produced a coarse wool, for stockings. Refused a patent by
106:, near Nottingham where Lee's apprentice John Aston (or Ashton), a miller, had continued to work on the frame and produced a number of improvements. This led to the establishment of two knitting centres, one in London and one in Nottingham. During the 18th century
99:, and prospered until, shortly before Henry's assassination in 1610, he signed a contract with Pierre de Caux to provide knitting machines for the manufacture of silk and wool stockings in 1614 and that is his last known record.
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on 6 June 1600, but the unfortunate Brooks was arrested on a charge of treason and executed in 1603. Eventually, he moved to France with his brother James, taking 9 workmen and 9 frames. He found better support from the
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Although the industry took nearly a century to develop in wool, silk and lace, the machinery that he developed remained the backbone for far longer and this is reflected in his appearance in the coat of arms of
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After Lee's death, his workers and probably his brother James returned to
England and disposed of most of the frames in London before moving to
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also doubts much of what is recorded about Lee's life and history, but that he invented the framework stocking knitter in 1589 is not in doubt
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41:. No definitive evidence has been found for either of these although there is circumstantial support for Nottinghamshire. He entered
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Four
Centuries of Machine Knitting: Commemorating William Lee's Invention of the Stocking Frame in 1589
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Four
Centuries of Machine Knitting: Commemorating William Lee's Invention of the Stocking Frame in 1589
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Harte, Negley (1989). "William Lee and the
Invention of the Knitting Frame". In Millington, John T.;
22:(1563–1614) was alleged to be an English clergyman. He was the inventor who devised the first
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in 1589, the only one in use for centuries. Its principle of operation remains in use.
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vied with
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The quatercentenary of the invention was celebrated in 1989 with the publication
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The following story exists but it is not supported by recent sources. Lee was a
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332:"The City of Leicester: Social and administrative history, 1660-1835"
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Some say Lee was born in Sussex but others claim the village of
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Why nations fail: the origins of power, prosperity, and poverty
338:. Vol. 4, the City of Leicester. London. pp. 153–200
95:, who granted him a patent. Lee began stocking manufacture in
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Hills, R. L. (1989). "William Lee and His
Knitting Machine".
135:
Coat of arms of The
Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters
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Lee, William (d. 1614/15?), inventor of the stocking frame
309:"William Lee inventor of the framework knitting machine"
409:
Biographical
Dictionary of the History of Technology
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83:He entered into a partnership agreement with one
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116:The Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters
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360:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
16:English clergyman and inventor (1563–1614)
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256:. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press.
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1240:People from Calverton, Nottinghamshire
1230:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
535:List of yarns for crochet and knitting
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297:. Random House Digital. pp. 182–.
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1220:16th-century English Anglican priests
385:. Leicester: Knitting International.
250:Palmer, Marilyn (23 September 2004).
166:
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336:A History of the County of Leicester
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216:
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293:Acemoglu, D.; Robinson, J. (2012).
464:Calverton, Woodborough and Lambley
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429:Journal of the Textile Institute
406:Day, Lance; McNeil, Ian (2002).
202:Dictionary of National Biography
129:
57:Stocking frame knitting machine
1133:The Knitting Guild Association
196:"Lee, William (d.1610?)"
1:
1128:World Wide Knit in Public Day
1113:Revolutionary Knitting Circle
1123:UK Hand Knitting Association
412:. Routledge. pp. 735–.
1225:17th-century English clergy
691:Stockinette/Stocking stitch
330:McKinley, R A, ed. (1958).
280:A Cambridge Alumni Database
43:Christ's College, Cambridge
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1245:British people in knitting
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282:. University of Cambridge.
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39:Calverton, Nottinghamshire
1179:List of knitting stitches
969:Complete garment knitting
466:, Nottinghamshire history
441:10.1080/00405008908659197
128:
974:Fully fashioned knitting
276:"Lee, William (LY579W)"
227:Encyclopædia Britannica
1174:Knitting abbreviations
1047:Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
994:William Lee (inventor)
348:British History Online
262:10.1093/ref:odnb/16314
1149:Basic knitted fabrics
163:Day & McNeil 2002
1072:Elizabeth Zimmermann
897:Three needle bindoff
882:Slip-stitch knitting
802:Drop-stitch knitting
313:Hucknall-Torkard.com
862:Picking up stitches
767:Binding/Casting off
629:Patons and Baldwins
614:Eisaku Noro Company
525:Knitting needle cap
513:Tools and materials
49:and graduated from
857:Medallion knitting
93:Henry IV of France
51:St. John's College
1235:English inventors
1197:
1196:
1067:Barbara G. Walker
847:Illusion knitting
419:978-1-134-65020-0
392:978-0-9514312-0-7
140:
139:
78:Queen Elizabeth I
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1037:Herbert Niebling
979:Knitting machine
962:Machine knitting
777:Brioche knitting
711:Elongated stitch
624:Lion Brand Yarns
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377:Chapman, Stanley
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67:Knitting machine
27:knitting machine
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1032:Frances Lambert
1027:Marianne Kinzel
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817:Finger knitting
797:Double knitting
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520:Knitting needle
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45:in 1579 as a
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1210:1560s births
1189:Yarn bombing
1042:Shannon Okey
1003:Knitters and
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747:Arm knitting
530:Needle gauge
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346:– via
342:11 September
340:. Retrieved
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317:the original
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1215:1614 deaths
1062:Meg Swansen
752:Basketweave
655:Continental
609:Coats Group
602:Yarn brands
540:Row counter
191:Lee, Sidney
20:William Lee
1204:Categories
1012:Sam Barsky
792:Casting on
782:Buttonhole
740:Techniques
706:Dip stitch
593:Variegated
177:References
167:Hills 1989
1005:designers
948:Fair Isle
902:Thrumming
877:Short row
812:Faggoting
731:Yarn over
670:Norwegian
449:0040-5000
356:cite book
108:Leicester
53:in 1582.
1154:Blocking
953:Intarsia
931:Patterns
832:Grafting
807:Entrelac
716:Increase
701:Decrease
684:Stitches
650:Combined
645:Circular
506:Knitting
379:(eds.).
104:Thoroton
90:Huguenot
1184:Selvage
1164:History
1159:Dye lot
1142:Related
1108:Ravelry
922:Welting
917:Weaving
872:Ribbing
842:Hemming
660:English
588:Novelty
578:Eyelash
1103:Knitty
1093:Knitta
943:Argyle
912:Twined
822:Gather
787:Cables
772:Bobble
696:Garter
638:Styles
573:Bouclé
566:styles
447:
416:
389:
73:curate
892:Steek
867:Pleat
827:Gauge
150:Notes
47:sizar
938:Aran
907:Tuck
852:Lace
675:Warp
665:Flat
583:Lopi
564:Yarn
445:ISSN
414:ISBN
387:ISBN
362:link
344:2018
65:and
437:doi
258:doi
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358:}}
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
