George Loveless
Who were the Tolpuddle Martyrs? Life was hard for farm labourers in the mid-nineteenth century and Tolpuddle, Dorset was no exception. Living off just nine shillings a week, many were poverty stricken and malnourished. In 1834 a group of labourers, who became known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs, met under a sycamore tree on the village green to discuss these shared hardships. George Loveless made the case for joining a union to strengthen the hand of the workers. Those who joined agreed to work for no less than 10 shillings a week. Landowners and the government intended to suppress the growth of trade unions and to stifle outbreaks of dissent. The six Tolpuddle Martyrs were arrested on 24 February 1834 and charged with the ‘administration of unlawful oaths’.
Editorial on the arrest, 6 March 1834 ‘We had hoped that our own County would have been spared the formation of these illegal combinations... even here the emissaries of discontent and sedition... are endeavouring to seduce the lower orders from the paths of peaceful and productive industry and social order.’
George Loveless Aged 37 when arrested, he died in 1874. A Methodist lay preacher and great orator, George Loveless was married to Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ and had five children. After returning to England, he emigrated to Canada.
James Loveless
Trade unions in the 1830s Before the repeal of the Combination Acts in 1824, trade unions had been illegal. Many unions had managed to survive the anti-union laws and now, in the 1830s, they were growing and spreading fast. Robert Owen set up a single national union of all trades – the General National Consolidated Trades Union – in February 1834, the very month in which the Martyrs were arrested. He, and others, looked on trade unionism not just as a means of protecting and improving workers’ living standards, but for changing the political and economic order of the country. When the Martyrs tried to join a union, the authorities decided to make an example of them, dredging up an ancient piece of legislation, the Unlawful Oaths Act (1797).
Editorial on the arrest, 6 March 1834 ‘These are considerations of deep interest to all men of property, of whatever party; to those who have no inclination for anarchy, whatever may be its promises or its menaces. To the deluded Unionists themselves… their course will but terminate in their own ruin, and prove to be as great an outrage upon themselves as upon their masters and society.’
James Loveless 1808-1873 Like his brother George, James was also a Methodist preacher. He married and had two children. When he emigrated to Canada he became sexton of a Methodist church in Ontario.
James Brine
Trial and conviction The Martyrs were tried at the Dorchester Assizes by grand jury in March 1834. The grand jury was composed of landed gentlemen who opposed what they saw as seditious attempts by labourers to improve their rights. In this case, the jury also included a number of magistrates who had already signed the arrest warrant. Depositions were made for the prosecution by Edward Legg and John Lock, both of whom had been invited to join the union, and both of whom then betrayed the Martyrs at trial. All six were sentenced to seven years’ penal servitude in Australia.
Trial proceedings 20 March 1834 John Lock… ‘Something was said about paying a shilling on entering the society, and a penny a week afterwards to support the men… who had struck, till their masters should raise their wages.’ Edward Legg… ‘They said that they intended to strike and we might do the same if we liked; that our masters should have notice of it by means of a letter.’
James Brine 1813-1902 Upon his return from Australia, James Brine married Elizabeth Standfield, daughter of Thomas and sister of John. James also emigrated to Canada. Seven of his 11 children were born there.
Tolpuddle Martyrs
we we free
““ will be be will … ” free ” ‘We will be free’ is from a poem scribbled down by George Loveless immediately following his conviction.
James Hammett
Transportation and the penal colonies Transportation was a severe and brutal punishment. Conditions were appalling on the prison hulks where convicts awaited transportation. Disease-ridden vessels, they each held over 1,500 chained with leg-irons. Many did not survive the journey on the overcrowded and unhealthy transport ships. In Australia, the Martyrs were put to work without adequate food, clothing and shelter. The guards, the authorities and the settlers to whom they were sold for the term of their sentence were notoriously harsh, particularly towards political prisoners. There was little hope of return as, once their sentence had been served, convicts were expected to pay for their journey back to Britain.
Editorial on the conviction, 20 March 1834 ‘Transportation is the inevitable result of the crime; and it cannot be too strongly or too frequently enforced… With such public examples before them, individuals whom it is sought to entice into unlawful combinations, are armed with a powerful argument.’
James Hammett 1811-1891 Returning to England, James went back to Tolpuddle and worked as a builder’s labourer. He was married three times and had seven children.
Thomas Standfield
Campaigns in Britain Victimisation of the Tolpuddle Martyrs inspired a widespread outcry in Britain. Trade unionists and supporters recognised this as an attack on the rights of workers to organise for better conditions and influence in society at large. On 21 April 1834 Copenhagen Fields in London was flooded with up to 100,000 trade unionists. They marched to Parliament and delivered a petition for the remission of the Martyrs’ sentences signed by 250,000 people. In response to public outrage, conditional pardons were granted by June 1835. Pressure mounted as petitions from all over the country were delivered to Parliament. Full and free pardons were granted in March 1836. The Martyrs soon returned home.
Report on ‘Great Meeting in Copenhagen Fields’, 24 April 1834 ‘The banners inscribed with the name of the respective trades were planted 20 feet apart… Neither police nor soldiers were to be seen in any direction, and everything wore the dress of a gay spring holiday. The men appeared to be all sober…The crowds in the streets to witness the procession were astonishingly great. Every wall, recess, and casement was crowded, and in some instances the house-tops.’
Thomas Standfield Aged 44 in 1834, he died in 1864. Thomas was a Methodist. He married Dinah Loveless, sister to George and James and emigrated to Canada.
John Standfield
Inspiration today The story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs is still re-told, forever remembered and celebrated by the labour movement, most notably at the annual Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival organised by the Trades Union Congress. The Martyrs are a reminder of how the law can be used to constrain trade union rights, something which continues to threaten trade union organisation today. In Britain, strikes must be organised within increasingly stringent conditions and are subject to police supervision. But most of all, the campaign surrounding the Martyrs serves as a lasting inspiration of what solidarity actions by a united movement can achieve.
Report from a House of Commons debate on 16 April 1834 ‘Mr Hutt presented a petition signed by upwards of 700 members of the Grand National Consolidated Trades Unions at Kingston-upon-Hull, imploring his Majesty’s government to remit the punishment inflicted upon the six labourers… Mr Ewart presented a petition from 14,700 inhabitants of Liverpool for the extension of mercy to the men convicted at Dorchester.’
John Standfield 1813-1898 Son of Thomas, John emigrated to Canada when he returned from Australia. There he became a shopkeeper and founded a choir.
The project Marx Memorial Library & Workers’ School 37a Clerkenwell Green, London, EC1R 0DU www.marx-memorial-library.org.uk
Founded in 1933, the Marx Memorial Library is home to a unique collection of books, archives and artefacts on the history of socialism and the workingclass movement.
Among our many treasures are bound copies of the Dorset County Chronicle and Somersetshire Gazette from the 1830s.
These rare volumes document the story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. Underlining the hostile attitude and concerns of the local press, landowners and judiciary, they give a valuable insight into how the arrest and trial of the six farm labourers and the popular campaign in solidarity with them were reported at the time. Until recently the poor condition of the newspapers meant that digitisation and display were impossible. But with generous support from trade unions in Britain and Australia, individual members and supporters of the Marx Memorial Library and the Aurelius Charitable Trust we raised sufficient funds for their conservation at Graham Bignell Studios. These digitised documents are now accessible online on our project website: www.marx-memorial-library.org.uk/ the-tolpuddle-martyrs-their-story-in-print Illustrations by Clifford Harper.
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