Benjamin Ormond Purse OBE (29 August 1874 – 31 March 1950) was a British trade unionist and campaigner for the rights of blind people.

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.

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.

[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] 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] 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.

[10][11] Lloyd George stated that the government could not afford to meet all of the demands of the marchers, but he would progress the Blind Persons Act.

[13][14][10] 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.