Ruth Uzzell
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7 October 1880
Ruth Uzzell | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ruth Freeman 7 October 1880 |
| Died | 2 November 1945 (aged 65) |
| Occupation(s) | Trade unionist, speaker |
| Organization | National Union of Agricultural Workers |
| Movement | Labour; Co-operative |
Ruth Uzzell (née Freeman;[1] 7 October 1880[2] – 2 November 1945)[3] was a British trade unionist, speaker, and member of the executive committee of the National Union of Agricultural Workers.[4][5] She has been described as "one of the many gifted working-class women who found in the Labour Movement a way to selfless and unswerving service to their class", becoming a well-known speaker throughout England and Wales.[4][6][7] She was the first Labour woman elected to Oxford City Council.[4][8]
Ruth Freeman was born in Tysoe, Warwickshire, into a family of agricultural workers and union members.[9][5] Her father and grandfather had both been members of Joseph Arch's National Agricultural Labourers' Union.[4] In her younger years, she worked as a servant in a farm house,[4] an experience which historian Nicola Verdon has described as giving her "a genuine understanding and sympathy for the rural working-class woman".[5] She was also strongly influenced by meeting George Edwards,[4] a founder of the union which became the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers.[10] Ruth married Harry Charles Uzzell in 1903.[1][11]