Ethel Carnie Holdsworth (1886-1962)

Wrote some of her early poetry and novels at 76 Windsor Road - a short walk from the library - while working full-time in a cotton mill. She was a frequent visitor to the reading room of the Co-op on Glebe Street (now demolished).

In the summer of 1908, Robert Blatchford interviewed her at her home and offered her a job as a writer with his weekly paper, The Woman Worker, in London.

In the 1911 census, she gives her occupation as “journalist and cotton winder” - a very unusual combination!

Although some of her works were best sellers, she faded into obscurity and stopped writing in 1936. The forthcoming republication of This Slavery by Trent Editions will hopefully bring her the recognition she deserves. Although the novel was published in 1925, there is some evidence that it was written in Great Harwood before the First World War.

Ethel Carnie Holdsworth is buried in Blackley Cemetery, Manchester.