William Lee (1550-1610), a Nottingham man, graduated from Cambridge with a degree in theology, so he was primarily a priest, not an engineer. His mother and daughter usually knit woolen clothes at home. They worked very hard. William Lee wanted to lighten their work load, so he invented knitting machine.
There are a series of rings on the knitting machine, each of which is on the last row. The knitting machine can produce a row of wool loops (I don't know how to describe it better, which girl can explain it), and pass through it with a long needle, which is just like the needle for knitting wool. After passing through, the second row of rings will produce a row of wool rings, and then another long needle will pass through from the opposite direction. Then they weave the sweaters or scarves in rows.
After invented the knitting machine, William Lee made a sweater out of coarse wool, and then he applied to Queen Elizabeth I for a patent (the earlier patent required the king's permission, and later the Patent Office), but he was refused. William Lee thought that his machine might not be fine enough, so he improved it so that the knitting machine could make fine fabrics of silk. So he applied for a patent again. At that time, the king was James I, but he still refused his patent application, for the reason that the livelihood of the hand Weaver would be a problem.
When William Lee heard that King Henry IV of France was interested in new technology, he ran to France and moved the factory to Rouen with his brother. Under the protection of Henry IV, their business was very good until Henry IV was assassinated. Louis XIII, the successor, did not like foreigners, so the business of the Li brothers could not go on, so he returned to England and set up a factory in London.
The business of Lee brothers in London has been bad, which makes the future of knitting machine worrying. Fortunately, Ashton, one of their apprentices, invented the divider, an important part of the knitting machine (William Lee died at that time). Later, many craftsmen continued to improve it and could spin cotton fabrics. In the 18th century, the demand for textiles suddenly increased, and knitting machines began to be popular. Today's knitting machine is controlled by computer, but the basic principle of today's knitting machine is still invented by William Lee.
Through this example, I would like to say that technological progress cannot be stopped by administrative orders. Many inventions take a long time to work. We need to be patient and work hard.
