His mother died in 1887, according to Battley "due to working as a sempstress at her treadle sewing machine night after night into the early hours of the morning in order to help my father, who was a casual labourer, to provide their children with a fair share of bread and dripping for breakfast and tea, and boiled rice for dinner.
He found this experience quite distressing, describing the "mischief done to my mind and soul as a lad"[2] but later set up his own printing firm with his brother George in 1905.
At a time when a week's paid holiday was standard in the printing trade, Battley Brothers offered a fortnight.
In the First World War, Battley's Baptist beliefs and membership of the Fellowship of Reconciliation bade him to declare his conscientious objection.
In a letter, he said; "When I tell you there are nearly 15,000 plants in cloches of 4, you can imagine my task... My arms and hands have swollen to twice their usual size and have given me ceaseless pain.