Question: Gilbert James French (1804–1866), was a textile manufacturer and the biographer of Samuel Crompton, Crompton was an English invento,r and pioneer of which industry?
Context: The Nashua Manufacturing Company was a cotton textile manufacturer in Nashua, New Hampshire that operated from 1823 to 1945.  It was one of several textile companies that helped create what became the city of Nashua, creating roads, churches and its own bank as part of the process.  Like most New England textile mills it struggled during the Depression.  It shut after World War II, when much of the industry had moved South for cheaper labor and land. American Yarn, formerly Burlington Industries, is an American company.  It is the second largest warp drawn textile manufacturer, in the United States and is the third largest in the world.  Founded initially as a part of Burlington Industries (International Textile Group), AY Manufacturing Services is a privately held company operating out of the Pioneer Plant - birthplace of Burlington Industries - in Burlington, North Carolina and is one of the area's main employers.  The company records over 100 million USD in sales and has over 300 employees.  AY Manufacturing Services is the main textile supplier for the Ford Motor Company and one of the largest textile suppliers for BMW and General Motors (GM). 10 Firwood Fold is a 16th-century house in Bolton, Greater Manchester (grid reference [ SD73171109] ).  It is a Grade I listed building and the birthplace of Samuel Crompton in 1753. Gilbert James French (1804–1866), was a textile manufacturer and the biographer of Samuel Crompton. Crompton is a small community in West Warwick, Rhode Island, United States.  It is named after Samuel Crompton, inventor of the "spinning mule".  The Crompton mill was known for the manufacture of corduroy.  Crompton is home to Old St. Mary Church, the oldest Roman Catholic church building in the state of Rhode Island, built in 1844.  Crompton is the geographical center of Rhode Island. James Hargreaves (c. 1720 – 22 April 1778) was a weaver, carpenter and inventor in Lancashire, England.  He was one of three inventors responsible for mechanising spinning.  Hargreaves is credited with inventing the spinning jenny in 1764, Richard Arkwright patented the water frame in 1769, and Samuel Crompton combined the two creating the spinning mule a little later. The Crompton Loom Works is an historic industrial complex of the Crompton Corporation at 132-142 Green Street in Worcester, Massachusetts.  The factory manufactured looms for textile factories.  With its original portion dating to 1860, the complex is one of the oldest surviving industrial sites in the city.  The facility was established by George Crompton, whose father William had invented the first power loom for weaving fancy fabrics.  The younger Crompton's business would become of the most significant employers in the city, and his innovative looms would revolutionize the textile industry.  Crompton and his successors would operate the loom manufacturing works at Green Street until 1915. TEXAF or Societe Financière et de Gestion TEXAF (previously UTEXAFRICA, Congotex UTEXLEO, UTEXCO) was a major textile manufacturer of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Since the 2007 liquidation of its textile manufacturing division, it has been operated out of Belgium and Kinshasa as part of a larger Belgian-headquartered Congolese textile and industrial firm under the name TEXAF.  Under a series of brands, TEXAF operates in the sectors of textile design/distribution, transport, housing and construction, mechanical, and cotton plantation.  UTEX operates quarrying under the name CARRIGRES, machine and rail transport fabrication under the name MECLCO, consumer textile sales branded as UTEXAFRICA, and a medical hospital, the Hospital Center UTEXAFRICA in Kinshasa.  All its arms operate in the DRC, while the company is based in Bruxelles. Samuel Crompton (3 December 1753 – 26 June 1827) was an English inventor and pioneer of the spinning industry.  Building on the work of James Hargreaves and Richard Arkwright he invented the spinning mule, a machine that revolutionised the industry worldwide. Sir Samuel Crompton, 1st Baronet (c. 1786 – 27 December 1849) was a politician in the United Kingdom.  He served as a Member for Parliament for East Retford, Derby and Thirsk.  He also served as Deputy Lieutenant for the North Riding of Yorkshire.
Answer: spinning