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.