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Project and Historical Details
Samuel Slater – hero or traitor?
Slater the Traitor hits the big screen
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Slater the Traitor hits the big screen
Location: Derbyshire
An LHI funded film based on the devious exploits of Derbyshire’s most infamous industrial spy, Samuel Slater, will be shown at the Northamptonshire International Community Film Festival between 15 -17 September 2006.
Created by Maypole Promotions and funded by a £25,000 LHI grant, the film explores the early years of Samuel Slater, who became famous as the ‘Father of the industrial revolution in America’ after stealing technology developed in Belper’s cotton mills.
Born in Belper, Derbyshire in 1768, Samuel Slater was apprenticed at the age of fourteen to Jedidiah Strutt (formerly a partner with Richard Arkwright and Samuel Need in the cotton spinning trade). Employed by Strutt in his mills at Milford and Belper, Slater learned the art of cotton spinning and gained knowledge of machinery and mill construction.
In 1789, Slater absconded to the USA, disguised as a farm labourer. This was to evade a law banning the emigration of those who might have information useful to Britain's commercial rivals. Not long after his arrival in Pawtucket, New England, Samuel set up a cotton mill, in partnership with Almy and Brown. (Samuel’s contribution to the partnership was his knowledge not cash). As a result, he became known as ‘Slater the Traitor’ amongst cotton trade workers of the Belper area, who feared losing their livelihood to foreign competitors.
Festival Director, Dr Ian McCormick, said of the historical drama, "the selection committee was highly impressed by the content of the film and the strength of the message, supported by impressive production standards and a most effective edit of the material."
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