Heathcoat, John

John Heathcoat, (born Aug. 7, 1783, Duffield, Derbyshire, Eng.—died Jan. 18, 1861, Tiverton, Devon), pioneering English inventor of lace-making machinery.

One of Heathcoat’s machines (patented in 1809), the most expensive and complex textile machine then in existence, simulated the movements of the bobbins in the hands of the pillow-lace workers, producing an exact imitation of pillow lace. Heathcoat and his partner, Charles Lacy, built a mill at Loughborough to exploit the new process. The Luddites invaded the mill in 1816 and destroyed 55 lace frames. Heathcoat afterward installed new and greatly improved machines at a mill in Tiverton, Devon. He also developed contrivances for ornamenting net in the course of manufacture and for making ribbons and plaited and twisted net, he invented improved yarn-spinning frames, and, finally, he devised methods for winding raw silk from cocoons. From 1832 to 1859 he represented Tiverton in Parliament.