Jedediah Strutt was born in Derbyshire in 1726. He served an apprenticeship as a wheelwright from 1740, and later entered into business with his brother-in-law William Woolatt to develop an invention of one of Woolatt’s employees - an attachment for the stocking frame which could knit ribbed stockings. The pair patented the machine in 1759. Strutt made his money in cotton hosiery manufactured using the rib knitting machine. Strutt, along with his business partner Samuel Need, invested in the company Richard Arkwright & Co, joining the partnership in January 1770. Strutt successfully lobbied parliament in 1774 for the reduction of excise duties on British-made cotton goods, resulting in the birth of a new industry. He developed the company’s mills in Belper and Mather, retaining ownership when Richard Arkwright & Co was dissolved in 1782. Strutt died in Derby in 1797.