John Kay – Bury, UK - Citizen Memorials on Waymarking.com

John Kay was born in 1704 in Walmersley just to the north of Bury, the fifth son of a farmer.

He was apprenticed to a hand loom reed maker but very quickly designed a new type of metal reed and he sold his invention all over England.
He went to on to make other design improvements to textile machinery including the fly shuttle which was to become known as the flying shuttle. A shuttle is used to store weft yarn whilst weaving and passes from side to side on the loom. His invention incorporated wheels into the shuttle allowing it to be propelled more easily.

The improvement meant that only one person was required to operate a broad loom rather than 2 people effectively doubling production. He started production in 1733 and immediately in the same year workers fearful of losing their jobs petitioned the King to try and get the invention banned.

The flying shuttle was hugely successful and one of the inventions credited with helping to start the industrial revolution. However Kay did not make much money from it because people did not pay the royalties and other manufacturers copied it and sold it more cheaply.
Although at the time of the invention the weavers in Bury did not like the invention, many mills did open and expand in Bury and brought employment to the area.

Because of the problems collecting his royalties Kay moved to France and was promised payment by the French government for help in setting up facilities there. He did improve the French productions, but was never paid as much as he expected and died penniless.

The memorial was paid for by Henry Whitehead a successful Bury businessman and erected in April 1908. It is in the centre of Kay Gardens an area formed on the previous site of Bury market after a new market hall was built.

Henry Whitehead was actually the great-great-grand son of Robert Kay. He was proud of his relative’s achievements and wanted to spread his fame.

The memorial stands over 10 metres high and designed by Bristol-based architect, William Venn Gough and built by local builders, Thompson and Brierley.

High up on the memorial are 5 bronze statues sculpted by John Cassidy. The topmost figure is that of the Roman goddess Fame. This was used to symbolise the fame being attributed to John Kay and she is holding a thin trumpet to broadcast his fame far and wide.

At a lower level are four statues representing various types of workmen.
1. Engineering holding a gearwheel and a pair of dividers.
2. Mining is a bare-chested man with a pickaxe and safety lamp.
At some point the pickaxe and safety lamp were removed or
stolen.
3. Weaving is a man in a cap holding a shuttle.
4. Agriculture is a young man with a sickle, mopping his brow.
At some point the sickle has been removed or stolen.

There is also a series of bronze plaques around the memorial, one shows John Kay himself, two are plaques describing John Kay’s achievements, the final one shows a power loom.

The text on plaque 1 is as follows.
THE GIFT OF HENRY WHITEHEAD OF HASLAM HEY TO HIS NATIVE TOWN
TO PERPETUATE THE NAME AND FAME OF
JOHN KAY
OF
BURY.
WHOSE INVENTION IN THE YEAR 1733 OF THE FLY SHUTTLE
QUADRUPLED HUMAN POWER IN WEAVING & PLACED ENGLAND IN THE FRONT RANK
AS THE BEST MARKET IN THE WORLD FOR TEXTILE MANUFACTURES.
HE WAS BORN IN BURY IN 1704, AND DIED IN EXILE AND POVERTY IN FRANCE,
WHERE HE LIES IN AN UNKNOWN GRAVE.

The text on the second plaque is as follows

INVENTOR ALSO OF
METAL REEDS FOR LOOMS,
IMPROVED METHODS OF
SPINNING TWINE, WORSTED
AND MOHAIR,
WIND & HORSEPOWER PUMPS,
POWER TAPE LOOM,
MALT KILNS, SALT PANS,
AND MANY OTHERS.

Website with more information on either the memorial or the person(s) it is dedicated to: [Web Link] Location: Kay Gardens

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/18/2016 dreeder75 visited it