This chair was used by John Kay, the inventor of the flying shuttle. He was born at Rothwell's of the Park, Walmersley, Bury in 1704.
In 1733 Kay invented the wheel shuttle (Flying Shuttle) this meant that one person could operate a shuttle across a very wide loom, which greatly increased the rate of cloth production. The legacy of the Flying Shuttle is inestimable, it completely changed the weaving of textiles. It helped to set the Industrial Revolution in motion.
In 1753 Kay's house in Bury was ransacked by an angry mob of textile workers who feared that his machines would destroy their livelihood. Due to these events, John Kay left England for France. He died in the South of France in 1780 aged 76. A memorial commemorating his achievements was set up in Kay Gardens in the centre of Bury in 1908.
John Kay's chair
Contributed by Bury Art Gallery
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