Tolpuddle Martyrs
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The Tolpuddle Martyrs were a group of 19th century British labourers who were arrested for and convicted of swearing a secret oath as members of the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers. The rules of the society show it was clearly structured as a friendly society and operated as a trade-specific benefit society. But at the time, friendly societies had strong elements of what we now consider is the predominant role of trade unions. They were subsequently sentenced to transportation to Australia.
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[edit] The historical events
The Reform Act of 1832 made unions legal, and that year six men from Tolpuddle in Dorset founded the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers to protest against the gradual lowering of wages in the 1830s. They refused to work for less than 10 shillings a week, although by this time wages were as low as 6 shillings a week. The society, led by George Loveless, a Methodist local preacher, met in the house of Thomas Standfield.
In 1834 James Frampton, a local landowner, wrote to the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, to complain about the union, invoking an obscure law from 1797 prohibiting people from swearing oaths to each other, which the Friendly Society had done. James Brine, James Hammett, George Loveless, George's brother James Loveless, George's brother in-law Thomas Standfield, and Thomas' son John Standfield were arrested, found guilty, and transported to Australia.
They became popular heroes and all, except James Hammett, were released in 1836, with the support of Lord John Russell who had recently become Home Secretary. Hammett was released in 1837. Meanwhile the others moved, first to Essex, then to London, Ontario, Canada, where there is now a monument in their honour and an affordable housing/ trade union complex named after them. They are buried in a small London, Ontario, cemetery on Fanshawe Park Road East. Hammett remained in Tolpuddle. He died in the Dorchester workhouse in 1891.
[edit] Cultural and historical significance
There was a monument erected in their honour in Tolpuddle in 1934, and a sculpture of the martyrs made in 2001 stands in the village in front of the Martyrs Museum there.
An annual festival is held in Tolpuddle, organised by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) featuring a parade of banners from many trade unions, a memorial service, speeches and music. Recent festivals have featured speakers such as Tony Benn and musicians such as Billy Bragg, as well as others from all around the world. The festival is usually held in the third week of July - see Tolpuddle Martyrs festival
The story of Tolpuddle has enriched the history of trade unionism, but the significance of the Tolpuddle Martyrs continues to be debated since Sidney and Beatrice Webb wrote the History of Trade Unionism (1890) and continues with such works as Dr Bob James Craft Trade or Mystery (2001).
The Tolpuddle Martyrs were portrayed in the 1987 film Comrades, directed by Bill Douglas.
There are streets named in their honour in:
[edit] Image gallery
 The Tolpuddle Martyrs' Museum. |
 The cottage of George Loveless. |
 Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival in 2004. |
[edit] References
- Tolpuddle Martyrs' Story Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum Trust
- History of Trade Unionism (1890) Sidney and Beatrice Webb
- Craft Trade or Mystery (2001) Dr Bob James
- The Book of the Martyrs of Tolpuddle 1834-1934, London : The Trades Union Congress General Council (1934) — Memorial Volume (printed by the Pelican Press) 240 pages. Modern reprint (1999) Tolpuddle Martyrs Memorial Trust, ISBN 1850065012
- Marlow, Joyce, The Tolpuddle Martyrs, London : History Book Club, (1971) and Grafton Books, (1985) ISBN 0586038329
- Tolpuddle - an historical account through the eyes of George Loveless. Contemporary accounts, letters, documents, etc., compiled by Graham Padden, TUC, 1984, updated 1997.
- "The Martyrs of Tolpuddle - Settlers in Canada". Geoffrey R. Anderson 2002. A privately published 70 page booklet available at the London Public Library, and also at the Regional Collection, UWO
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum
- The Wrong End of the World, The stirring story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs: An epic documentary drama with traditional music, for Salisbury Playhouse, 1987, by Graham Padden.
