Tolpuddle Martyrs
 The shelter in Tolpuddle erected as a memorial in 1934 | |
| Date | 1833–1834 |
|---|---|
| Location | Tolpuddle, Dorset, England |
| Participants |
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| Outcome |
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The Tolpuddle Martyrs were six
The Tolpuddle Martyrs became a popular cause for the early
Historical events
Background
In 1799 and 1800, the
By the start of the 19th century the county of Dorset had become synonymous with poorly paid agricultural labour. In 1815, after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, 13% of the county's population were receiving poor relief, and this worsened in the subsequent agricultural recession. By 1830 conditions were so bad that large numbers of labourers joined the Swing Riots that affected southern England that autumn; more than forty disturbances occurred in the county, involving two thirds of the labouring population in some parishes. A few landowners temporarily increased wages as a concession, but law enforcement was also increased and many labourers were arrested and imprisoned, and within a short time the gains in wages were reversed.[3]
In 1833 six men from the village of
Prosecution and sentencing
In 1834, James Frampton, a
When sentenced to seven years' penal transportation, George Loveless wrote on a scrap of paper lines from the union hymn "The Gathering of the Unions":[10][11][12]
God is our guide! from field, from wave,
From plough, from anvil, and from loom;
We come, our country's rights to save,
And speak a tyrant faction's doom:
We raise the watch-word liberty;
We will, we will, we will be free!
Transportation, pardon, return
James Loveless, the two Standfields, Hammett and Brine sailed on the Surry to New South Wales, where they arrived in Sydney on 17 August 1834. George Loveless was delayed due to illness and left later on the William Metcalf to Van Diemen's Land, reaching Hobart on 4 September.[13]
Of the five who landed in Sydney, Brine and the Standfields were assigned as farm labourers to free settlers in the
In England they became popular heroes and 800,000 signatures were collected for their release. Their supporters organised a political march, one of the first successful marches in the United Kingdom, and all were eventually pardoned in March 1836 on the condition of good conduct, with the support of Lord John Russell, who had recently become Home Secretary.[16] When the pardon reached George Loveless some delay was caused in his leaving due to no word from his wife as to whether she was to join him in Van Diemen's Land. On 23 December 1836, a letter was received to the effect that she was not coming and Loveless sailed from Van Diemen's Land on 30 January 1837, arriving in England on 13 June 1837.[17][18]
In New South Wales, there were delays in obtaining an early sailing due to tardiness in the authorities confirming good conduct with the convicts' assignees and then getting them released from their assignments. James Loveless, Thomas and John Standfield, and James Brine departed Sydney on the John Barry on 11 September 1837, reaching Plymouth (one of the departure points for convict transport ships) on 17 March 1838. A plaque next to the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth's historical Barbican area commemorates the arrival. Although due to depart with the others, James Hammett was detained in Windsor, charged with an assault, while the others left the colony. It was not until March 1839 that he sailed, arriving in England in August 1839.[15][17][18]
Later life
The Lovelesses, Standfields and Brine first settled on farms near Chipping Ongar, Essex, upon their return from transportation, with the Lovelesses and Brine living at Tudor Cottage in Greensted Green. The five later emigrated to the town of London, Upper Canada (in present-day Ontario), where there is now a monument in their honour and an affordable housing co-op and trade union complex named after them. George Loveless and Thomas Standfield are buried in Siloam Cemetery on Fanshawe Park Road East in London, Ontario. James Brine died in 1902, having lived in nearby Blanshard Township since 1868, and is buried in St. Marys Cemetery, St. Marys, Ontario.[citation needed]
Hammett returned to Tolpuddle and died in the Dorchester workhouse in 1891.[17]
Museums
The Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum in Tolpuddle, Dorset, features displays and interactive exhibits about the martyrs and their effect on trade unionism.[19] The Shire Hall in Dorchester, where the Tolpuddle Martyrs were tried, is now a museum, including material about them.[20]
Cultural and historical significance
A monument was 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 Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum.[21]
The annual Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival is usually held in the third week of July, organised by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), and features a parade of banners from many trade unions, a memorial service, speeches, and music. Recent festivals have featured speakers such as Tony Benn, musicians such as Billy Bragg, and local folk singers including Graham Moore, as well as others from all around the world.[22]
The courtroom where the martyrs were tried, which has been little altered in 200 years, in Dorchester's Shire Hall, is being preserved as part of a heritage scheme.[23]
The story of Tolpuddle has enriched the history of trade unionism, but the significance of the Tolpuddle Martyrs continues to be debated since
The following places are named in their honour:
- Tolpuddle Street, Islington, London
- Tolpuddle Way, Kirkdale, Liverpool
- Tolpuddle Vineyard, Richmond, Tasmania
In 1984, a mural was created in Edward Square, off Copenhagen Street, Islington, to commemorate the gathering of people organised by the Central Committee of the Metropolitan Trade Unions to demonstrate against the penal transportation of the Tolpuddle Martyrs to Australia. The mural was painted by artist David Bangs.[26]
In 1985 a memorial plaque for the Tolpuddle Martyrs was installed in Garema Place in the centre of Australia's capital city Canberra.
Comrades is a 1986 British historical drama film directed by Bill Douglas and starring an ensemble cast including James Fox, Robert Stephens and Vanessa Redgrave. Through the pictures of a travelling lanternist, it depicts the story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs.[27]
A workshop production, based on the film Comrades, was performed at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter on 23 March 2023 and told the story of The Tolpuddle Martyrs up to the time of their arrest. It was written and directed by Tony Lidington and performed by drama students from the University of Exeter.[28]
A musical drama by Alan Plater and Vince Hill, 'Tolpuddle', was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 16 October 1982.[29]
The Tolpuddle Martyrs also find reference in a poem by Daljit Nagra: "Vox Populi, Vox Dei".[30]
The men who returned to Plymouth from Australia were commemorated with a plaque made by Clifford Harper at a ceremony in March 2020.[31]
Image gallery
-
Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival in 2004 -
Tolpuddle Martyrs' memorial sculpture (London, Ontario, Canada) Leslie Putnam & David Bobier Artists -
Tolpuddle Martyrs plaque, Siloam Cemetery, London, Ontario, Canada -
Gravestone of George Loveless in Siloam Cemetery, London, Ontario, Canada -
Plaque on wall of Tudor Cottage, Greensted Green, Essex, where three of the Martyrs lived on their return from transportation -
Tudor Cottage, Greensted Green, Essex: home of three Martyrs on their return from transportation
See also
- Chartism
- Convicts in Australia
- Enclosure
- Peterloo Massacre
- UK labour law
References
- ^ Judge, Ben. "18 March 1834: Tolpuddle Martyrs sentenced to transportation". Money Week. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ISBN 9780752474601. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
- ISBN 0-7153-6371-9.
- ^ The Tolpuddle Martyrs. Available at: http://www.historytoday.com/john-stevenson/tolpuddle-martyrs (Accessed: 27 October 2016)
- ISBN 9781107111653. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ Collection highlights, Secret Society Skeleton Painting, People's History Museum, archived from the original on 13 January 2015, retrieved 13 January 2015
- ^ (1834) 6 Carrington and Payne 596, 172 E.R. 1380; also reported in (1834) 1 Moody and Robinson 349, 174 E.R. 119
- ^ Anon (2009). Crime and Punishment in Staffordshire. Staffordshire Arts and Museum Service.
- ISBN 9781920899493. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ISBN 9780521292870. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- Jones, William (1832). Biographical Sketches of the Reform Ministers; with a history of the passing of the Reform Bills. London: Fisher, Fisher and Jackson. p. 758. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ^ Loveless, George (1837). The Victims of Whiggery. p. 17. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ^ Loveless, George (1837). The Victims of Whiggery. p. 7. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ISBN 9781459621008. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- ^ a b Loveless, James; Brine, James; Standfield, John; Standfield, Thomas (1838). A Narrative of the sufferings of J. Loveless, J. Brine, and T. & J. Standfield, four of the Dorchester Labourers; displaying the horrors of transportation, written by themselves. London: John Cleave.
- ^ Political Marching: What's at risk? BBC News, 27 November 2010
- ^ a b c Rudé, rge (1967). "Loveless, George (1797–1874)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
- ^ a b Loveless, George (1837). The Victims of Whiggery. p. 8. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ISBN 9781409487609. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Shire Hall – Historic Courthouse Museum". Shire Hall. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ "The Tolpuddle Martyrs". London and District Labour Council. London and District Labour Council. 2001. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival" (pdf). TUC. Trade Union Congress. 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Tolpuddle Martyrs courtroom to be centre-piece of new Dorset heritage centre". Western Gazette. 16 July 2014. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ^ Labor's Heritage: Quarterly of the George Meany Memorial Archives. Silver Spring, MD: George Meany Memorial Archives. 2004. p. 71.
- ^ James, Bob (2002). Craft, Trade or Mystery – Part One – Britain from Gothic Cathedrals to the Tolpuddle Conspirators. Tighes Hill, NSW: Takver's Initiatives. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Tolpuddle Martyrs Mural". London Mural Preservation Society. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
- ISBN 9780748622313. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Comrades – The Story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs". Exeter Northcott Theatre. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ "Saturday-Night Theatre: Tolpuddle". BBC. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
- ^ "Daljit Nagra". StAnza. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ Waddington, Sarah (12 March 2020). "New plaque to mark the arrival of the Tolpuddle Martyrs in Plymouth". Plymouth Herald. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
Further reading
- Usherwood, Stephen. "The Tolpuddle Martyrs 1834–37: A Case of Human Rights" History Today (Jan 1968), Vol. 18 Issue 1, pp 14–21; online; covers 1834 to 1840.
- Tolpuddle Martyrs' Story Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum Trust
- 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 1-85006-501-2
- Harris, "Brian, "Injustice", Sutton Publishing. 2006. ISBN 0-7509-4021-2(An analysis of the trial)
- Marlow, Joyce, The Tolpuddle Martyrs, London : ISBN 0-586-03832-9
- Tolpuddle – an historical account through the eyes of George Loveless. Contemporary accounts, letters, documents, etc., compiled by Graham Padden, TUC, 1984, updated 1997.
- [1]. Geoffrey R. Anderson 2002. A privately published 70-page booklet.
- Dorset Pioneers: Jack Dwyer: ISBN 978-0-7524-5346-0
- ISBN 0-7100-7419-0
- Dorset History Centre holds relevant books and original records (including the Dorchester prison register in which the Martyrs are listed)
External links
- The Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum
- 2009 Commemoration of the 1834 Grand Demonstration in support of the Martyrs
- The Tolpuddle Martyrs. Witness. BBC World Service. 17 August 2015.
- Works by or about Tolpuddle Martyrs at Internet Archive
- Works by Tolpuddle Martyrs at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
