Ben Purse

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Ben Purse
National League of the Blind
In office
1918–1920
Preceded byR. D. Smith[1]
Succeeded byDavid B. Lawley[1]
President of the National League of the Blind
In office
1905–1916
Preceded byFirst office holder
Succeeded byR. D. Smith[1]
General Secretary of the National League of the Blind
In office
1897–1899
Preceded byFirst office holder
Succeeded byPeter Miller[1]
Personal details
Born29 August 1874
Salford, Lancashire
Died31 March 1950(1950-03-31) (aged 75)
Bridgwater, Somerset
NationalityBritish
Domestic partnerMary Elizabeth Alcock
OccupationTrade union leader, campaigner for blind people's rights

Benjamin Ormond Purse

Poor Laws
. The early NLB had been a combative organisation, confronting charities that it claimed exploited blind workers, but Purse put it on more conciliatory footing, that won it support from key political figures.

Purse campaigned for neonatal conjunctivitis to become a notifiable disease, which was achieved in 1914 and in the same year joined a government committee that helped influence the bill that became the Blind Persons Act 1920. Purse became a founder-member of the government's Advisory Committee for the Welfare of the Blind in 1917 and held that role for 25 years.

The NLB split in 1921 over the question of whether it should register as a charity and Purse left to found the National Union of Industrial and Professional Blind, which later became the National Association of Blind Workers. He was editor of the new organisation's journal, the Tribune until 1942. Purse published two books on blind people's welfare in the 1920s and, in 1931, a book of verse. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1944 New Year Honours
.

Early life

Ben Purse was born in

National League of the Blind (NLB).[5][2] The NLB had been founded to campaign against the exploitation of blind workers by companies and charities and for the government to take over responsibility for blind persons welfare from the charities.[4]

National League of the Blind

Purse was elected general secretary of the NLB in 1897, the organisation's first full time leader.[5] Purse organised the NLB's first national congress in 1897 and remained general secretary until 1899.[4][1] Purse inherited £60 in 1898 and used it to found the NLB's journal, the Blind Advocate, of which he was its first editor.[2][6] He married in 1899 to Mary Elizabeth Alcock.[2] Purse became a fulltime employee of the NLB in 1901 and served for a long period as the body's national organiser.[2][7] His large social network was a great help in this role, one contemporary commentator recalled that it "was rare to find a blind person whom Purse did not know".[7] Purse argued for the NLB to become affiliated with the Trades Union Congress, which was achieved in 1902, and campaigned for a minimum wage for blind workers.[4][8]

Purse became president of the NLB in 1905, serving continuously until 1916.

Poor Laws.[2] The NLB became affiliated to the Labour Party in 1909.[4] The NLB was originally highly combative in its campaigning but from 1910 Purse adopted a more conciliatory approach, which helped to increase its influence and draw support from key political figures.[4][5] The NLB held a number of strikes by blind workers including one in Bristol in 1912 that lasted for six months.[4] Purse was key in a campaign that led to neonatal conjunctivitis, which could lead to blindness in newborn babies, becoming a notifiable disease in 1914.[2]

From 1914 Purse was a member of a government interdepartmental committee that helped influence the wording of the bill that would become the Blind Persons Act 1920.[9] From 1917 he was also a founding member of the Advisory Committee for the Welfare of the Blind, a government body, and remained in that role until 1942.[2][4] Purse's cooperation with the government led to some complaints in the NLB's journal, the Blind Advocate.[9] One member W. Halkyard wrote to say Purse was "a former comrade influenced through personal gain and was now on the side of the opponents". Purse responded by calling Halkyard "mischievous and inaccurate" and that his intention was only to increase his stature in the NLB by criticising others.[9] Purse was persuaded by Sir Arthur Pearson in 1916 to accept employment as director of aftercare at the National Institute for the Blind, helping to train blind people and find opportunities for them in the workplace. He remained in the role until 1943.[2] Purse became president of the NLB again in 1918, holding the position for two years.[1]

Participants of the 1920 blind march

Purse was a leader of the

Royal Assent on 16 August, becoming the first disability-specific legislation anywhere in the world.[13][14][10]

Later career

From 1920 to 1921, the NLB membership was split over whether the organisation should register as a charity, in addition to its status as a trade union, which had recently been ruled acceptable by the courts. The NLB had long opposed the existing blind people's charities and many in the membership thought that registration would be hypocritical.

Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1944 New Year Honours "for devoted service to the blind".[17]

Purse died at Bridgwater, Somerset on 31 March 1950; his wife and their two children predeceased him.[2] The NLB became the National League of the Blind and Disabled in 1968. It merged with the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation in 2000 and is now part of Community.[16] The National Association of Blind Workers became the National Federation of the Blind of the United Kingdom after the Second World War, registered as a charity in 1964 and continues to campaign for blind people's welfare.[18][19]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-1-137-36447-0
    .
  2. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35633. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  3. ISBN 978-1-4739-3407-8
    .
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "National League of the Blind and Disabled". Working Class Movement Library. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Wheeler, P. F.; Salt, F. W. (September 2006). "Disabled activism, a historically problematic relationship with charity" (PDF). Disability Studies Association Conference: 4.
  6. ISBN 978-1-905583-73-7
    .
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-1-137-36447-0
    .
  8. ISBN 978-1-4739-3407-8
    .
  9. ^ a b c Wheeler, P. F.; Salt, F. W. (September 2006). "Disabled activism, a historically problematic relationship with charity" (PDF). Disability Studies Association Conference: 9.
  10. ^ a b "Marching into history". Royal National Institute of the Blind. 3 April 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  11. ISBN 978-1-905583-73-7
    .
  12. ^ Main, Edward (30 April 2020). "'Justice not charity' – the blind marchers who made history". BBC News. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  13. ^ "Blind Persons Act 1920". Hansard. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  14. ^ Lysons, CK (1973). The development of social legislation for blind or deaf persons in England 1834–1939 (Doctor of Philosophy). Brunel Law School. p. 195. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  15. ^ Wheeler, P. F.; Salt, F. W. (September 2006). "Disabled activism, a historically problematic relationship with charity" (PDF). Disability Studies Association Conference: 11.
  16. ^ a b "National League of the Blind and Disabled". Working Class Movement Library. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  17. ^ "No. 36312". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1943. p. 63.
  18. ^ "National Federation of the Blind of the United Kingdom- Charity 236629". Charities Commission. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  19. ISBN 978-1-136-26385-9
    .
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