Last weekend, as part of ‘Being Human’ (the UK’s only festival of the humanities), Dr Nicola Wilson of the University of Reading’s English Department gave a talk entitled ‘Reading at t’ mill’. Attendees also heard from our very own Mildred Cookson on the foundation of the Mills Archive, her experience in the milling industry and viewed a display of books on milling prepared by Mildred.
The ‘Reading at t’ mill’ talk was given by the University of Reading’s English Literature Department lecturer Dr Nicola Wilson, who specialises in twentieth century literature and print culture. The talk was part of an event consisting of a day of talks and workshops (hosted by the University of Reading at MERL) to celebrate ‘Being Human‘, the UK’s only festival of the humanities.
Discussing the life and writings of Lancashire mill-woman Ethel Carnie Holdsworth (1886-1962), the talk drew on themes relating to the importance of books, reading and print culture to working-class history and factory life.
Ethel Carnie Holdsworth was a mill-woman, feminist working-class writer and socialist activist. She is believed to be the first working class woman in Britain to publish a novel, Miss Nobody in 1913 (London: Methuen). In addition Carnie Holdsworth published poems and contributed articles to The Woman Worker (image below from the Working Class Movement Library) in the first decade of the twentieth century (as well as editing the publication for six months).
Born in Lancashire, Carnie Holdsworth’s family moved to Great Harwood, near Blackburn, when she was six years old. She began work in the cotton mills part time (to allow her to attend school) aged eleven, going to full time work when she was thirteen. Carnie Holdsworth often wrote under her maiden name, so is often referred to as Ethel Carnie.
Carnie Holdsworth equated her mill work with ‘slavery’. This was evident in her journalism and laid bare in her 1925 novel This Slavery (London: Labour Publishing Company), which skilfully combined a romantic tale with perspectives on industrial conflict and the need to become politically active to secure change.
Attendees were also interested to hear from our very own Mildred Cookson, who spoke after Nicola Wilson, on the founding of the Mills Archive and her own personal experience of the milling industry. Mildred had produced a display of books on milling from her own collection which attendees were invited to view at the end of the workshop.
Overall this was a really interesting and well-presented talk, highlighting a prominent and significant mill-woman. Please see this article from ‘Cotton Town’ and this TLS blog post called ‘Reintroducing Miss Nobody’ for more information on Carnie Holdsworth.