John Levers
or John Leavers
Inventor of the Levers (or Leavers) lace-making machine.
Levers was a hosiery frame-smith and setter-up when he moved from Sutton-in-Ashfield to Derby Road in Nottingham. There he embarked on the development and manufacture of lace and net machinery, helped by two brothers and a nephew. Financial help for building production machines came from the lace-making firm of John Stevenson and Skipwith. Levers did not patent his machines. In 1817 he changed it from horizontal to vertical orientation. In 1821 he emigrated to Rouen, where he set up his lace-making machines. He died in France. However, see below.
To confuse matters, three members of the family engaged in the machinery development were called John Levers (senior, junior, and nephew). JL sr. died at New Radford, and JL jr. died in Rouen[1]