Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall

Congrats! I am so excited to read this!! Hooray!

Disability and the Gothic Cambridge Core - English Literature: General Interest - Disability and the Gothic

Disability and the Gothic has now been published and is available online FOR FREE for the next 2 weeks. www.cambridge.org/core/element...

Photograph: view of Linen Hall Library -- nice wooden tables with green-glass lamps, shelves of old books, and a window that looks out onto City Hall

view of the rotunda inside Belfast City Hall.

A well-worn book cover for a book called "Industries (of) Ireland: Descriptive & Biographical Facts, Figures, and Illustrations". There are various scenes of Belfast on it.

Black and white photograph from inside Belfast City hall museum. It portrays a love of children, barefoot on a cobblestone street, and generally looking not so fancy. A quote is superimposed in white in front of them: "Many Belfast Mills are slaughterhouses for women and penitentiaries for the children." attributed to James Connolly an Winifred Carney, "To the Linen Slaves of Belfast" (1913)

Can't believe it's already my last day in Belfast! Spent it in one of my favorite research spots -- Linen Hall Museum -- and then also (finally) went to Belfast City Hall to see their excellent exhibit on the history of the building and the city, and took a tour of the building. Recommend both!

Apply today for the Historic Children’s Voices K-12 Teacher Institute

Monday, August 10 - Friday, August 14, 2026

americanantiquarian.org/k-12-teacher-institute-2026

printed ad that reads John G. McGee & Co., Merchant Clothiers and Practicall Hatters Army & Navy Tailors & Outfitters to all parts of the Globe, 46, 48, & 50 High Street, Belfast

I like to think that this establishment billing itself as "practical hatters" is distinguishing itself from all the "mad hatters." (from Adair's 1860-1 Belfast Directory)

google books search on "gothic" gives response "It looks like there aren't any 'Books' matches on this topic."

I found it was really glitchy last week (searching inside books sometimes wasn't working) and kept encouraging me to "try the new google books" which didn't really appear to be that different. Links I have to books (saved from Zotero) seem to work, but a search of google books now yields *nothing*.

Image source here: https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3g05734/ This is a grey-and-sepia-toned watercolor depicting a building made up of many odd towers and elements, along with several tall smokestacks belching a lot of dark grey smoke into the grey sky. The building is reflected in the water surrounding it.

Gave a little talk today for a colleague's class on historic images of mills & factories and was surprised again by the fact that this image is from 1881. It's a watercolor by Joseph Pennell depicting Bethlehem Steel Works in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a place I called home for a few years.

black and white image of a pretty young woman who is holding a shawl around her that covers the top of her head. She is carrying a basket.

"The Factory Girl" as she appeared in The Sunday School Hive & Juvenile Companion 1 June 1878: "factory girls, although labouring under many disadvantages, compare favourably with any other of the working classes of young women for thrift, for intelligence, and for religion."

On request, the deadline for abstract submissions has been extended to 13 February, so you have two more weeks to get yours in!

hullgothic.wordpress.com/cfp/

Black and white illustration with caption "The old gipsy suddenly fell back, and did not move again" features two women looking on as a man dramatically falls backwards from standing.

19: Isabel gives birth to Ralstone's son; she's eventually happily widowed and remarried. Salome is married to Harold. A confession compelled via Salome's ring reveals the site of Harold's father's dead body, so he can be laid to rest. Happiness prevails despite the horrors of the past. The end.

Black and white image titled "Utterly unprepared for such a meeting, Hugh Ralstone stood on the threshold, his evil face white to the lids, his hands clenched, his eyes fixed upon Salome." A group of five people -- three women, two men -- are standing around near a table. Meaningful looks are exchanged.

18: Salome goes to Avesbury to meet her mother. They are tearfully reunited. Ralstone and Isabel arrive. Dr. Monteith explains the situation & tells Ralstone to leave the country & they will take care of his wife. Salome reveals that Ralstone has hypnotized Isabel, who is distraught.

black and white illustration titled "Mr Mirehouse, having finished his errand with me, will prepare now to go, said Salome, and the discomfited scripture reader did not wait for a second hint."

17: Case against Jackson/Brindle seems bad until a gipsy man confesses to shooting at Ralstone. Salome dismisses Mirehouse; Jackson confesses he is Brindle and also an Avesbury; Salome agrees to marry him. Dr. Monteith reveals that the couple are first cousins.

16: No image. Jackson confesses to Salome that he is Harold Brindle; she gives him a packet from his grandfather that includes letters about his secret father. Brindle finds evidence that Harold Avesbury and Dora Brindle were duly married in Preston so he’s the legal heir! Ralstone has him arrested!

black and white illustration titled " 'No, I never touched the medicine' Isabel replied, with trembling lips and a white face." An angry man in the foreground holds up a cup and a woman in a fancy dress looks at him while another man looks on.

15: Ralstone is about to get married to Salome but they are interrupted by Abner. Ralstone instead marries Isabel. Dr. Monteith figures out that Isabel is poisoning Lady A. with aconite & sends her and Ralstone away. Monteith gets a letter from Lady A. saying there is “a terrible calamity.”

black and white illustration titled "Again she glanced at him, and, in spite of herself, shuddered as she met the basilisk gaze of Hugh Ralstone's glittering eyes." A man and a woman sit at a table, and the woman pulls back from the man in horror.

14: Esau tells Isabel that their mother is dead & demands money to bury her. Ralstone learns hypnotism (!), meets with Salome, gets her into a “mesmeric slumber” & tells her that he will take her to her real mother once she marries him. Abner tells Esau that Ralstone ruined his sister & they scheme.

black and white illustration with title " 'You my mother, woman? You are raving!' said Isabel Avesbury." The image shows a fancy-dressed woman stepping back in fear of a woman lying on a bed on the floor.

Part 13: Harold (pretending to be Jackson) and Salome become good friends. Dr. Monteith goes to Ralstone’s uncle to demand that he make Ralstone marry Miss Avesbury immediately. Meanwhile Isabel learns to her horror that her aunt was the Avesbury’s nurse and she switched Isabel & Salome as babies.

Time for a lunch break, but I am struck by how many times the images don't match the story -- they leap ahead to the next installment. Also fascinated by how fast-paced the story is and how many side characters are introduced.

black and white illustration titled "The meeting of Salome Price and Harold Brindle." A man in fancy dress and a woman in a fancy dress meet on a street. Again, this doesn't even happen in this installment -- it's in the next one!

Part 12: We go back in time to get Harold Brindle's story. His grandfather wanted him to go into the clergy, he refused & rain away to join the army as "John Jackson." Ralstone gets Jackson (Brindle) sent to prison for 3 years. Released, he gets a job as a clerk & plans to claim his inheritance.

black and white illustration titled "Private Jackson rushed from the banks and struck Ralstone a tremendous blow between the eyes." The image shows two men in uniform fighting with others in the background. Again, notably, this scene does not happen in this section of the story -- it's in the next one.

Part 11: Lady Avesbury, grateful to Ralstone for saving Isabel, permits their engagement. Dr. Menteith, the family’s old doctor visits. He recognizes that Isabel is not the child he delivered and he knows Ralstone is a rake. Monteith reveals the recent Preston events; Ralstone abandons Isabel.

Black and white illustration titled "That is what you will have an opportunity of doing, Captain Balstone," said Hornby, suddenly seizing Mr. Farnham's wig." The pictured scene is in a courtroom with a woman standing in a box looking concerned, while a man removes another man's wig and a judge looks on.

Part 10: Mr. Farnham accuses Salome of stealing a ring; he is actually Ralstone, who goes to jail for false accusation of Salome. Mr. Brindle dies. His will says if his grandson, Harold, returns within 3 years, he can marry Salome or she gets the whole estate. Salome goes back to work at the mill.

black and white illustration with title "Turning suddenly, she met the triumphant gaze of Esau Price." Image has a man in foreground with his back to the viewer, and a woman facing him. It is night-time.

Part 9: Isabel Avesbury has been kidnapped by Esau who is keeping her in a cave until she agrees to marry him. After a week, Ralstone figures it out & finds Isabel! Meanwhile, there’s a new lodger, Mr. Farnham, at Salome’s house & she doesn’t like him.

Black and white image titled "Suddenly, Salome stopped at a corner beneath a lamp. She was being followed, stealthily, as it seemed to her, by a man." Image shows woman in a nice dress, under a streetlamp, looking over her shoulder at a suspicious-looking man to watches her.

Part 8: Capt Ralstone enlists a tramp, Sampson Lee, to kill Salome. Lee stalks Salome, but she reveals her ring and he confesses everything. Salome gets Lee out of the country and uses her gipsy network to scare Ralstone into leaving her alone.

Black and white illustration with the title "From an old purse he drew a curious-looking finger-ring, made of copper, and fashioned in the form of a snake." We see a seated old man with a cane beside him, and a well-dressed woman speaking with him.

Part 7: Ralstone sees a portrait and figures out that Salome is the real daughter of Lady Avesbury. Salome helps a sick tinker and he gives her a ring that marks her as "royalty" among the gipsies. Salome and Mr. Brindle compel Capt Ralstone to reveal where Mattie's child is and they are reunited.

black and white illustration titled "Isabel stood motionless, filled with a superstitious feeling of mingled awe and fear". A woman in a fancy hat and dress is in the foreground, with her hand to her face; an older woman in poorer clothing stands behind her.

Part 6: Esau Price (Salome's brother and Isabel's servant) rescues her from the tramp. He's in love with Isabel but she mocks him. Capt Ralstone and Isabel meet and it seems a match is made, angering Easu. A gipsy fortune-teller reveals to Isabel that in 1 year she will lose her ancestral home.

There are 19 installments to this messy story. Each one has an illustration (though they don't always go with the story). I'll try to add more as I continue reading. But so far, Salome Price is the most ass-kicking factory girl I've read so far.

illustration titled "the shock of Isabel's fall stunned her, but she was soon roused to consciousness."

Part 5: Mr. Mirehouse, a minister, steals money from Mr. Brindle. Isabel Avesbury, age 18, is wealthy & headstrong. Her mother was widowed when an "old gipsy woman" killed her husband. Isabel looks more like the "gipsy" than her mother. Isabel is thrown from a horse; a tramp tries to steal her ring.

black and white illustration titled "As Salome felt the cold, limp fingers of the young man, a thrill of instinctive dislike, amounting to repugnance, ran through her frame." Strangely, this image does not go with this section of the story - the passage and scene happen in the next installment, when Mr. Mirehouse is introduced.

Part 4: Brindle suspects Salome isn't a "gipsy." Mattie confesses to her involvement in Salome's capture, but she did it to get her child back. Capt Relstone and his accomplice have disappeared. Brindle reveals that his daughter, Dora, died 17 years ago, and his grandson disappeared 3 years ago.

Black and white illustration titled "Salome hit the captain a terrific blow on his left arm, breaking it above the elbow." Image shows a woman standing with a long weapon in her arm, defiant while a man holds his arm and a woman sits on the ground holding her heaad.

Part 3: Salome is imprisoned by the conniving Capt Ralstone, but she has her weaver's scissors with her and manages to fashion a weapon and save herself. She breaks Ralstone's arm in her escape. Salome is charged with assault! Mr. Brindle, the mill owner, gets her a defense lawyer.

black and white illustration titled "This time Salome's reply was made with her clenched fist, given with all the might of her strong arm, and the blow, hitting him on the mouth, nearly knocked him down." A woman in a dress has her arm raised up and a man in a uniform is falling backwards.

Part 2: Salome continues to kick ass, getting the sexually-harassing cut-looker fired from the mill and punching a soldier -- the horrible Captain Ralstone -- when he insults her. Ralstone made a sham marriage with weaver Martha (Mattie) Web, then abandoned her and told her their baby was dead.

Black and white illustration titled "She seized a knife from the table, and made furious lunges at him, striking him first on the cheek, and then in the neck". The image features a woman plunging a knife into a man's chest; they are both inside a caravan.

masthead for "Illustrated Chips" notes "Begins Below -- the New Story!" and the price as a half penny

Just found a new factory girl serial: "Salome Price, the Gipsy Factory Girl" by R. T. Casson in Illustrated Chips from 6 Oct 1894. Salome opens by triumphing in a knife fight with a man who has "bought" her as his wife, and runs off to Preston to earn her living as a weaver.