Thomas Johnson
William Radcliffe publicly committed himself to the goal of mechanizing weaving.
He and his partner used their combined resources of £11,000 to buy the empty factory built by Samuel Oldknow in the Hillgate, Stockport. Here they concentrated production and recruited Thomas Johnson of Bredbury, near Stockport, an ingenious weaver, to work on the problem, Radcliffe specifying objectives and Johnson designing mechanical solutions.
Modifications were recorded in four patents, taken out in Johnson's name (to conceal their source and value), between 1803 and 1807.