Ben Purse dating history
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About
Ben Purse is a member of the following lists: Officers of the Order of the British Empire, 1950 deaths and 1874 births.
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Details
| Birthday |
29th August, 1874
|
| Birthplace |
Salford, Lancashire
|
| Died |
31st March, 1950
|
| Place of Death |
Bridgwater, Somerset
|
| Zodiac Sign |
Virgo
|
| Occupation Text |
Trade union leader, campaigner for blind people's rights
|
Benjamin Ormond Purse OBE (29 August 1874 – 31 March 1950) was a British trade unionist and campaigner for the rights of blind people.
Purse, who was completely blind by the age of 13, was a piano tuner.
He became a founder-member of the National League of the Blind (NLB) in 1894 and was elected as its first general secretary in 1897.
Purse held the position for two years, during which he founded its journal the Blind Advocate. Purse became president of the NLB in 1905 and held the position until 1916.
He was regarded as particularly energetic in this role, successfully negotiating concessionary travel for blind people with 37 municipal authorities, attending an international conference and giving evidence to the 1907 Royal Commission on the 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.
