Tolpuddle Martyrs

• The French Revolution in 1789, followed by further popular uprisings in France in 1830, led the British authorities to feel vulnerable and treat those seeking political change as criminals.
• In February 1834, in the village of Tolpuddle in Dorset, a farm labourer called George Loveless and five others were arrested for ‘administering an illegal oath’, which was a very old law intended to stop sailors organising mutinies.
• The real reason was that they men had formed a ‘friendly society’ – an early form of trade union designed to protect their wages and help each other.
• They were protesting about their low wage of six shillings a week, when the average wage for a farm labourer was ten shillings a week.
• They were sentenced to 7years transportation.
• Mass protests started to spread in their support. A demonstration in London was attended by 100000 people, and 200000 people signed a petition.
• The home secretary, Lord Melbourne, refused to accept the petition, and the men were sent to Austrial.
• 4years later, however, the government pardoned the Tolpuddle Martyrs and they returned home.