Ellen "Nellie" Grimley known as Nellie Gordon was an Irish trade unionist.
13 Facts About Ellen Grimley
1.
2.
Ellen Grimley was born Ellen Jane Whelan in Belfast on 7 April 1884.
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Ellen Grimley was the only daughter of John Whelan, a tradesman and the former Mary McGorrian.
4.
Ellen Grimley was involved in the trade union movement from 1912, becoming a member of the Belfast branch of the Irish Women Workers' Union.
5.
Connolly and other union members encouraged her to read more broadly, leading to Ellen Grimley becoming more active in politics.
6.
Ellen Grimley spoke on the same platform as Keir Hardie at the Belfast Co-operative Hall, most likely in 1913.
7.
Ellen Grimley campaigned for the Dublin workers suffering during the lockout in the same year, fundraising for them in Belfast.
8.
Ellen Grimley married Joseph Gordon, a Belfast carter, in October 1906.
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Ellen Grimley was later widowed in December 1913 when her husband died from tuberculosis aged 28.
10.
Ellen Grimley was remarried to James Grimley in September 1915.
11.
Ellen Grimley's husband was a postman who was active in the Socialist Party of Ireland, and then the Belfast labour party from 1918.
12.
Ellen Grimley ran a secondhand furniture shop near Newtonards Road, but the family were forced to move to Dublin in 1935 following the outbreak of sectarian violence in Belfast.
13.
Ellen Grimley wrote an account of her work with James Connolly in 1953.