Cotton production The cotton (or wool) 'Throstle' is the name of a machine for the continuous Spinning of cotton (or wool) simultaneously onto long rows of, perhaps 300 or 400, Pirns or Bobbins. A mill work-room would have many of these machines which the teams of Doffers would attend to. (The actual piecing of the thread during the process was done by another operative, known as a Piecer.) Later improvements were made and a multi-thread spinning machine, known as the 'Self Acting Mule' was invented by Samuel Crompton of Bolton in 1779. The word 'Minder' refers to the operative in charge of the machine. He ( and it would usually be a 'He' because of the physical nature of the job!) would also have other assistants known as 'Piecers' whose work would be to repair the threads as and when they broke during the spinning process. He also had the help of teams of 'Doffers' when the 'Pirns' or 'Bobbins' became filled on his 'Mule'. A Weaver is the name of the operative of a loom which actually made cloth. When the cotton mills closed, cotton workers often sought employment in the silk mills. The influx of hand loom weavers from cotton to silk continued for many years as the result of the use of power looms in cotton manufacture.