Ellen Francis Young was a poet who lived in Ballarat during the gold rush. She was born Ellen Warboy around 1810 in Hampshire, England. She married Frederick Young at St. James Church, Clerkwell, London in 1837. In 1851 Frederick sailed to Australia, and Ellen followed two years later, arriving in Geelong in July 1853. In February 1854, Frederick and Ellen travelled to Ballarat and settled in Golden Point.
Frederick was unsuccessful as a miner and the living conditions on the diggings were poor. Ellen described the circumstances on the goldfields in her writing and had her first poem published in the Geelong Advertiser on 1 June 1854. Titled ‘Ballarat’, it describes the hardships miners encountered on the Ballarat diggings. In the video below, Hermione Higgins, our Education Officer, reads the first two stanzas from this poem. Click on the link to read about the hopes Ellen had for the future: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/91933419#
Life for the Youngs improved when Frederick opened a pharmacy. He eventually became the first Mayor of Ballarat East (note that until 1921, Ballarat and Ballarat East were two separate municipalities). Frederick died on 4 September 1868, aged 56.
Ellen generally wrote controversial poems that were political, feminist and questioning the status quo. She published many of her poems in The Ballarat Times always signing off as ‘Ellen. F. Young. Ballarat Poetess’. In May 1870, Ellen compiled her poems into a small volume which was donated to the Ballarat Library where it is still located.
Ellen died on 27 January 1872 aged 62. She is buried with her husband in Ballarat Old Cemetery. Location of the the grave is Area DN, section 01, Grave 04.
Simon Jacks
Australiana Research Collection
Ballarat Research Hub at Eureka (BRHAE)
