Ruby Sayner 1897-1973
Born on 3 October 1897 to Henry and Clara Sayner, Ruby grew up in a family of nine children in Titus Street, Saltaire before moving to Albert Road.
She received an elementary education leaving Albert Road School aged 13 to join her father at Henry Mason’s Mill, Shipley.
War years
During the First World War labour shortages and threats to food production meant new opportunities for women. Ruby took advantage of these becoming one of only two women in Shipley to join the Women’s Land Army. After training at Esholt Hall, receiving a weekly wage of 7 shillings, she worked on farms across the country.
After the war Ruby tried farming independently but the heavy, tiring work meant she returned to Mason’s working as a weft stock clerk where she remained for the next 18 years.
As the Second World War approached she stepped into service again becoming an A.R.P. warden (Air Raid Precautions) working the night shift before heading to her day job. After leaving Mason’s in 1942 she worked for a year at Butterfields Tank Manufacturers and then at Parkinsons.
Cricket
Ruby was also a passionate and accomplished cricketer. She played for Saltaire Ladies team and later Blythwick Ladies in the Bradford Ladies Evening League. A left arm spinner, she was later coached by the famous England bowler Sidney Barnes, who was reported as saying that if there had been scope for women cricketers she would have ‘gone a long way’.
Ruby played at every ground in the Bradford League and went on to play at Headingley and Bradford Park Avenue with the Yorkshire Ladies team. She was once reported to have hit the ball so hard it bounced off Sir Titus Salt’s statue!
Community service
Beyond sport, Ruby loved Gilbert and Sullivan operas. She used her organizational skills to become secretary to the Shipley Wesleyan Reform Amateur Dramatics Society in 1956. She later served on their general and casting committees.
Ruby was also an active member of the Women’s Section of Shipley British Legion. In later years she served her local community working as a school crossing warden at Windhill School where she was involved in at least two incidents where either she or the children she was escorting were struck by motorists.
A woman of great energy and spirit, Ruby remained unmarried and sadly passed away in 1973.
Tracey Williams 2026
References
Colin Coates: Timeline for Ruby Sayner