Julia Varley

Julia Varley, OBE (16 March 1871, Bradford, Yorkshire – 24 November 1952, Yorkshire) was an English trade unionist and suffragette.

Early life 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. 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, 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. In 1886 aged just 15, she became the secretary of the Bradford Weavers' and Textile Workers' Union.

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, She served on the Board of the Poor Law Guardians of Bradford between 1904 and 1907. 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.