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18341834–1836 · Tolpuddle, Dorset

Tolpuddle Martyrs

The memorial cottages built by the unions in 1934 that house the Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum in Dorset
Photo: Michael Dibb. CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Six farm labourers from the Dorset village of Tolpuddle formed a friendly society to resist cuts to their wages. Tried at Dorchester in 1834 for swearing a secret oath, they were sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia. Mass marches and a huge petition won their pardon in 1836, and the case became a founding story of the British trade union movement.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Tolpuddle Martyrs MuseumMuseum in memorial cottages that the unions built for the centenary in 1934.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: Martyrs' Tree, Tolpuddle village greenThe old sycamore under which the labourers are said to have met.Map ↗
  3. Site 3: Shire Hall, DorchesterThe courtroom where the six were tried, now a museum.Map ↗

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