A PENSIONER who has fought to get a rare stained glass window out of museum vaults for the next Preston Guild has sparked a historical debate.

The 8ft by 4ft window, previously displayed at The Museum of Lancashire, Stanley Street, is believed to show one of Preston's most famous sons, Richard Arkwright, watching a woman on a spinning wheel.

Geoffrey Law, 81, of Aubigny Drive, Fulwood, has been trying to track it down since the window, dating from the late 19th century, was taken off display more than a year ago.

With the help of the Citizen, Mr Law, one of the original members of the Arkwright Society, has discovered it is in storage.

But his inquiries have now led museum experts to question whether the person depicted on the window is actually Arkwright, one of the most important figures of the Industrial Revolution.

Stephen Sartin, former art curator at the Museum of Lancashire, believes the figure could in fact be James Hargreaves, the inventor of the spinning jenny. He said:"It could be Hargreaves because the person on the glass looks gaunt with deep set eyes, but Arkwright was quite podgy and round.

"It could be Hargreaves watching his sister on a spinning wheel which gave him the idea for the spinning jenny. It's a very exciting discovery."

Words on the window link Arkwright with the spinning jenny, but it was his water frame, invented in 1768, which revolutionised the cotton industry.

John McGoldrick, curator of social history at the museum said closer examination could be needed. "We may bring it out of storage. It will still be difficult to prove because there are no pictures of Hargreaves to compare it to."

In 1977 Mr Law battled to save Arkwright's former house from demolition, together with fellow members of the Friends of Arkwright House group and the Preston and South Ribble Civic Trust.

He said: "I wanted to find the window to get it on display for the next Preston Guild in 2012 because Arkwright is a fantastic figure who Prestonians should be proud of."

The sorry treatment of the inventor by his home town is documented in many history books and the pensioner believes Arkwright's achievements have not been acknowledged.

He said: "This is another jinx on Arkwright but people should know more and children should be educated more.

"There's a lot of Prestonians who don't even know who he is."

Mr Law, a former soldier and factory worker, has been interested in Arkwright for more than 40 years. He added: "If it is Hargreaves, it's not bad because people will have been looking at the window for all these years and kept Arkwright in their minds."

It is believed the window was in the board room of a Preston cotton mill at the start of the 20th century, but its last home was at the Morecambe branch of the Preston and North Lancashire Blind Welfare Society, which donated it to the museum five years ago.