Ellen Johnston (1835-1873)
Ellen Johnston was born in Muir Wynd, Hamilton, Scotland in 1835. Her father, James Johnston, was a stone mason by trade, but he was also a poet and had desires to get his work published, so it is apparent from where Johnston inherited her talent with words and literary aspirations. Her mother, Mary Bilsland, was a dress maker and milliner. When Johnston was only seven months old her father emigrated to America, and her mother, who was afraid that the journey would kill her baby, refused to go at the last minute and returned to Glasgow to live with her parents, where she subsequently supported herself and baby Ellen. When her mother remarried, Johnston’s step-father took the family to live in Glasgow, where they could find employment in the abundant textile mills. Johnston’s formal education ended at the age of eleven when she was sent to work in the mill.
From a young age, Johnston loved literature and had a talent for writing poetry. Her autobiography abounds with literary references, and she mentions that she particularly enjoyed reading the novels of Walter Scott. A noticeable feature of Johnston’s narrative is the elaborate literary manner in which it is written, and this can be seen to be an appropriation of the style of the romance genre of which she was so fond. When Johnston was nineteen, her first poem featured in the Glasgow Examiner, and she achieved local fame when her verses began to be published in the poetry section of the working-class Glasgow newspaper the Penny Post. In her study, Florence Boos relates how in 1867 the reformist editor Alexander Campbell actively began to solicit subscriptions in the newspaper for prospective book publications of Johnston’s collected poems. Subsequently, the volume Autobiography, Poems and Songs of Ellen Johnston, The “Factory Girl” was brought into print. Johnston’s autobiographical piece comprises only the first thirteen pages of the much longer work. In 1869, this was followed up by a revised second edition where her memoir section was renamed simply ‘Autobiography’, with minor but significant changes.
It is apparent from her autobiography that Johnston experienced great hardship and suffering, both in her home life where she was subjected to unspecified abuse from her stepfather, and through her employment in the textile mills which caused her very ill health and nearly caused her premature death. There is also mention of a baby conceived out of marriage, referred to as ‘My Mary Achin’ (p.310) in the text, and although Johnston claimed to love her daughter dearly she evidently further added to her troubles. Johnston found some imaginative and financial respite from her sufferings through her poetical musings; however, despite the promise of her literary achievements the material rewards were not enough to lift her out of poverty. According to the research of Gustav Klaus, she died at the age of 38, in a Poorhouse near Glasgow.
From a young age, Johnston loved literature and had a talent for writing poetry. Her autobiography abounds with literary references, and she mentions that she particularly enjoyed reading the novels of Walter Scott. A noticeable feature of Johnston’s narrative is the elaborate literary manner in which it is written, and this can be seen to be an appropriation of the style of the romance genre of which she was so fond. When Johnston was nineteen, her first poem featured in the Glasgow Examiner, and she achieved local fame when her verses began to be published in the poetry section of the working-class Glasgow newspaper the Penny Post. In her study, Florence Boos relates how in 1867 the reformist editor Alexander Campbell actively began to solicit subscriptions in the newspaper for prospective book publications of Johnston’s collected poems. Subsequently, the volume Autobiography, Poems and Songs of Ellen Johnston, The “Factory Girl” was brought into print. Johnston’s autobiographical piece comprises only the first thirteen pages of the much longer work. In 1869, this was followed up by a revised second edition where her memoir section was renamed simply ‘Autobiography’, with minor but significant changes.
It is apparent from her autobiography that Johnston experienced great hardship and suffering, both in her home life where she was subjected to unspecified abuse from her stepfather, and through her employment in the textile mills which caused her very ill health and nearly caused her premature death. There is also mention of a baby conceived out of marriage, referred to as ‘My Mary Achin’ (p.310) in the text, and although Johnston claimed to love her daughter dearly she evidently further added to her troubles. Johnston found some imaginative and financial respite from her sufferings through her poetical musings; however, despite the promise of her literary achievements the material rewards were not enough to lift her out of poverty. According to the research of Gustav Klaus, she died at the age of 38, in a Poorhouse near Glasgow.
