Ellen Johnston

Ellen Johnston known as "The Factory Girl" (c.1835 – April 12, 1874) was a Scottish power-loom weaver and poet.

[1] Her step father sexually abused her and he had started her working at age ten to cure her of her bookish pretensions.

In 1854 she had her first poem published Lord Raglan's address to the allied armies', in the Glasgow Examiner.

She continued to publish poetry in newspapers as "The Factory Girl" and at one point she gave up work due to illness but lack of money took her back.

In 1998 Gustav Klaus's biography "Factory Girl: Ellen Johnston and Working-class Poetry in Victorian Scotland" was published.