Q3) After studying the sources, explain any further sources of evidence about Cromford and Richard Arkwright? Would the Historians find them more or less useful than the evidence from the site? (5)

Authors Avatar

ARAIFENE MAHMOOD        HISTORY COURSEWORK

Q3) After studying the sources, explain any further sources of evidence about Cromford and Richard Arkwright? Would the Historians find them more or less useful than the evidence from the site? (5)

There is a lot of evidence to help us study the site. Yes, there are many sources of evidence about Cromford and Richard Arkwright. There were newspapers, sketches, paintings and accounts that could help the Historians.

Firstly, there were the newspapers. The newspapers were sometimes biased as they had to support Richard Arkwright. The people that owned the newspaper had to keep in with Arkwright as if they didn’t they would lose their jobs. Richard Arkwright was so rich that if the newspapers said anything that would upset him in any way, he would run them out of business because he was well respected and had power around people. I’ve seen three sources from the newspaper Derby Mercury. He could own the newspapers and the shops if he wanted to because he was very rich. There are two adverts and the third is an Obituary. Richard Arkwright paid them to write wonderful things about him and the mill site and the more they did, the more they would get paid. The adverts in the newspaper is advertising work at Arkwright’s mill and what type of people that are employed there already and who is wanted there. The third one is an Obituary and tells us that Arkwright had died. It also tells us that he was the founder of the church and was born at Preston. In the county of Lancaster and the date he was born on the 23rd of December 1732 to 3rd of August 1792.  These newspapers advertised businesses so that people can sell advertisement for money. Arkwright paid them huge amounts if they wrote good things about him even if it were lies.

Join now!

There were also the sketches and paintings that could help the historians. These painters were paid to make the mill site look like a very high-quality mill. You can’t trust the paintings because it has different people’s impression of what they think of the mill site and also it can’t be reliable because sometimes they tend to leave bits out.  The paintings were done before the fire of the second mill. The second mill was destroyed by fire and the only thing that is left there now is a one sided wall.

There were the Accounts that Arkwright had ...

This is a preview of the whole essay