Ellen Johnston

Ellen Johnston known as "The Factory Girl" (1835 – April 12, 1874) was a Scottish power-loom weaver and poet. She is known because of her autobiography and later reevaluations of her working class poetry.

Biography Ellen Johnston was born in Muir Wynd, Hamilton, in 1835. Her mother was Mary Bisland, a milliner, and her father was James Johnston, a stonemason employed by the Duke of Hamilton. He emigrated to America when Johnston was an infant, and it was supposed that he died there. Her mother remarried. 20 years later, when James Johnson learned of this, he took his own life. Johnston implied that her stepfather sexually abused her. She made frequent attempts to run away from home. At the age of 11, Johnston began work as a power-loom weaver.

Johnston could read and she enjoyed reading. She was interested particularly in the writings of the Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott. She was not shy and she hoped one day to be an actress.

Johnston gave birth to her daughter Mary Achenvole Johnston in 1852. The child was born out of wedlock, and Johnston was abandoned by the father.

Death and legacy On 6 April 1870, Johnston applied for poor relief. The application stated that she had been out of work since September 1869 due to sickness and had supported herself financially since then by selling her clothes and jewellery. She applied for poor relief again in March 1873. On 20 April 1874, she died from anasarca at the age of 46 in the Barony Poorhouse in Glasgow. Florence Boos suggested that her ill health was likely expedited by the poor conditions she experienced as a factory worker. Florence Boos has stated that Ellen Johnston is perhaps "the best-known woman factory poet". In 2007, her autobiography was reprinted.