Tributes paid to Oldham historian and writer Freda Millett

Much-loved historian and writer, Freda Millett, died aged 94 on Sunday, September 4 after suffering with advanced dementia, leaving behind a huge legacy.

Freda wrote 13 books about the borough and its people and worked as a librarian before becoming Oldham’s assistant curator and the keeper of local history at the former Oldham Museum on Greaves Street.

She was also a member of the Saddleworth Historic Society and worked for a time at the Co-op cheque office in Oldham. 

In 1974 she became a founder member of Oldham’s Children’s Holiday Homes Project which provides holidays in Wales for disadvantaged children and is still running to this day.

Freda Millet. (Image: Freda Millet.)

Freda on holiday in the 1950s.

Freda was named Woman of Oldham in 1995 and 21 years later in 2016 she became the first woman to receive a Civic Appreciation Award from Oldham Council for “outstanding services and dedication to the borough".

Her Civic Appreciation Award nomination read: “She has been single-handedly responsible for recording the social history of Oldham of over 200 years.”

Freda was born in Oldham in 1928 and went to Greenhill Grammar School. She married John Millett in 1952 at the age of 24 and the couple went on to have two children Jane Higginson, now 61, and Tim Millett, now 55.

The family lived in Oldham and Jane and Tim grew up in Springhead. Freda later moved to Grasscroft, where she and her late husband built a house, and then moved to The Wharf in Dobcross.

Freda Millet (Image: Freda Millet)

Freda and her husband John Millett.

Reflecting on her mother’s standing in the community, Jane, who works as a practice nurse and is a mother-of-two and grandmother-of-two, said: “She’s left a huge legacy behind which we are all grateful for.

"That’s what I keep holding dearly is the fact that when I speak to people the word inspirational comes up.

“She was inspirational to so many people and she was so positive about absolutely everything she didn’t have a negative bone in her body.

"She just loved people. She was a really fun person to be with and always laughing.”

Commenting on her mother’s books, Jane said: “She spent a lot of time interviewing people for her books and a lot of them include anecdotes from the people she interviewed.

"They don’t just include her memories but memories of the people who lived in Oldham and have lived in Oldham all their life which make them even more special.”

Freda Millett’s funeral will be held on Thursday, September 22 at 12pm at St Chad’s Parish Church in Uppermill, Saddleworth. The Saddleworth Sing for Pleasure Choir, which Freda was a member, are set to sing at the funeral.