Joseph Marie Jacquard - Biography

Biography

Jacquard’s surname was not technically “Jacquard”; it was Charles. In his grandfather’s generation, several branches of the Charles family lived in Lyon’s Couzon-au-Mont d’Or suburb (on Lyon’s north side, along the Saône River). To distinguish the various branches, they were given nicknames; Joseph’s branch was dubbed the “Jacquard” Charles. Thus, Joseph’s grandfather was Barthélemy Charles dit Jacquard.

Joseph Marie Charles dit Jacquard was born in Lyon, France on 7 July 1752. He was one of nine children of Jean Charles dit Jacquard, a master weaver of Lyon, and his wife, Antoinette Rive. However, only Joseph and his sister Clémence (born 7 November 1747) survived to adulthood. Although his father was a man of property, Joseph received no formal schooling and remained illiterate until he was 13. He was finally taught by his brother-in-law, Jean-Marie Barret, who ran a printing and bookselling business. Barret also introduced Joseph to learned societies and scholars.

His mother died in 1762, and when his father died in 1772, Joseph inherited his father’s house, looms and workshop as well as a vineyard and quarry in Couzon-au-Mont d’Or. Joseph then dabbled in real estate. In 1778, he listed his occupations as master weaver and silk merchant. Jacquard’s occupation at this time is problematic because by 1780 most silk weavers did not work independently; instead, they worked for wages from silk merchants, and Jacquard was not registered as a silk merchant in Lyon.

There is some confusion about Jacquard’s early work history. British economist Sir John Bowring met Jacquard, who told Bowring that at one time he had been a maker of straw hats. Eymard claimed that before becoming involved in the weaving of silk, Jacquard was a type-founder (a maker of printers’ type), a soldier, a bleacher (blanchisseur) of straw hats, and a lime burner (a maker of lime for mortar). Barlow claims that before marrying, Jacquard had worked for a bookbinder, a type-founder, and a maker of cutlery. After marrying, Jacquard tried cutlery making, type-founding, and weaving. However, Barlow does not cite any sources for that information. Ballot stated that Jacquard initially helped his father operate his loom, but the work proved too arduous, so Jacquard was placed first with a bookbinder and then with a maker of printers' type.

On 26 July 1778, Joseph married Claudine Boichon. She was a middle-class widow from Lyon who owned property and had a substantial dowry. However, Joseph soon fell deeply into debt and was brought to court. Barlow claims that after Jacquard's father died, Jacquard started a figure-weaving business but failed and lost all his wealth. However, Barlow cites no sources to support his claim. To settle his debts, he was obliged to sell his inheritance and to appropriate his wife’s dowry. Fortunately, his wife retained a house in Oullins (on Lyon’s south side, along the Rhone River), where the couple resided. On 19 April 1779, the couple had their only child, a son, Jean Marie. Beyond his name and his date of birth, nothing is known about Jacquard's son. Charles Ballot stated that after the rebellion of Lyon in 1793 was suppressed, Jacquard and his son escaped from the city by joining the revolutionary army. They fought together in the Rhine campaign of 1795, serving in the Rhone-and-Loire battalion under General Jean Charles Pichegru. Jacquard's son was killed outside of Heidelberg. However, Ballot repeated rumors and was a sloppy historian. For example, he stated that Jacquard's wife Claudette Boichon was the daughter of Antoine-Hélon Boichon, a master swordsmith, whereas Claudette was a widow who had been married to a Mr. Boichon before she married Jacquard.

By 1800, Joseph began to dabble in inventing: a treadle loom in 1800, a loom to weave fishing nets in 1803, and starting in 1804, the “Jacquard” loom, which would weave patterned silk automatically. However, none of his inventions operated well and thus were unsuccessful.

In 1801, Jacquard exhibited his invention at the industrial exhibition in Paris; and in 1803 he was summoned to Paris and attached to the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers. A loom by Jacques de Vaucanson on display there suggested various improvements in his own, which he gradually perfected to its final state. Although his invention was fiercely opposed by the silk-weavers, who feared that its introduction, owing to the saving of labour, would deprive them of their livelihood, its advantages secured its general adoption, and by 1812 there were 11,000 Jacquard looms in use in France. This claim has been challenged: Initially few Jacquard looms were sold because of problems with the punched card mechanism. Only after 1815 — after Jean Antoine Breton had solved the problems with the punched card mechanism — did sales of looms increase. The loom was declared public property in 1806, and Jacquard was rewarded with a pension and a royalty on each machine.

Jacquard died at Oullins (Rhône), 7 August 1834. Six years later, a statue was erected to him in Lyon, on the site where his 1801 exhibit loom was destroyed.