Julia Varley
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Julia Varley | |
|---|---|
 Julia Varley in later life | |
| Born | 16 March 1871 |
| Died | 24 November 1952 (aged 81) Yorkshire, England |
| Resting place | Undercliffe Cemetery, Bradford, Yorkshire |
| Monuments | Blue plaque in Birmingham |
| Occupation | Trade unionist |
| Parents |
|
Julia Varley, OBE (16 March 1871, Bradford, Yorkshire – 24 November 1952, Yorkshire) was an English trade unionist and suffragette.[1]
Born at 4, Monk Street in Horton in Bradford, she was one of seven surviving children out of nine born to Martha Ann née Alderson (1849-1896) and Richard Varley (1847-1913), an "Engine Tenter" according to the 1911 Census, meaning he oversaw the operation of the engine driving the machinery at a local woollen mill. The family lived in Horton Bradford.[2] Her maternal grandfather, Joseph B. Alderson (1796-1886), was among those protesting during the Peterloo Massacre of 1819 and was a Chartist during the 1830s,[3] and it was perhaps from him that she inherited her social conscience and desire to campaign for the rights of ordinary working people.[2]
In 1883 at the age of 12 she worked as a 'half-timer', attending school but also working as a sweeper.[4] A 'full-timer' at the age of 14, she joined the General Union of Textile Workers and quickly became a full-time organiser and branch secretary.[1][3][5] In 1886 aged just 15, she became the secretary of the Bradford Weavers' and Textile Workers' Union.[4][6]
In the 1891 Census Varley is listed as a "Worsted Weaver", and during this period she showed her early commitment to the rights of working people when she supported textile workers at Manningham Mills when they went on strike over low pay and poor working conditions. She talked to workers about the importance of joining a union. On the death of her mother in 1896 Varley became responsible for caring for her younger siblings until 1902,[4] at the same time still working long hours at the mill while also maintaining her trade union efforts.[2]
Suffragette
Varley was the first woman to join the Bradford Trades Council in 1900, and went on to serve on the Council for seven years. Aged 24 she chose to live for six weeks as a tramp, walking or ‘tramping’ from Leeds to Liverpool to see what it was like to live on Poor Law handouts.[3][7] She served on the Board of the Poor Law Guardians of Bradford between 1904 and 1907.[2]
Varley joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), with whom in February 1907 she was involved in a raid on the floor of the House of Commons. She refused to pay a fine for disturbance and obstruction and was sentenced to 14 days in Holloway Prison. Varley served a second sentence for a similar action and was released on April 20, 1907.[8] For these actions she was awarded the Holloway brooch by the WSPU. In 1909 Varley moved to Birmingham and established a branch of the National Federation of Women Workers at the Cadbury factory at Bournville.[1][4] She was also involved in the Cradley Heath women chainmakers' strike of 1910, led by Mary Macarthur, and the Black Country strike of 1913, and later sat on the General Council of the Trades Union Congress.[1]
