Girl was poorly brought up (5)
I believe the answer is:
delia
'girl' is the definition.
'was poorly brought up' is the wordplay.
'was poorly' becomes 'ailed'.
'brought up' says the letters should be written in reverse (in a down clue, letters go up).
'ailed' back-to-front is 'DELIA'.
(Other definitions for delia that I've seen before include "-- Smith, cookery writer" , "Woman" , "-- Smith, TV cook" , "Sonnets to - (Daniel)" , "Girl" .)