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Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum, Dorset

Statue of George Loveless outside the Tolpuddle Museum

In nineteenth century England conditions for agricultural workers were very difficult. The Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century is sometimes presented as a time when the good life in the countryside was left behind, replaced by a new and darker life in the industrial towns and cities. In reality labourers in the countryside were generally having a tougher time than people in the industrial towns. The old strip field system had gone. A labourer had once been in the position of owning a portion of his land or output. Now fields had been enclosed into farms, with labourers as employees. Prices outstripped pay, and serious poverty was the result. The harsh winters and poor harvests of 1829 and 1830 made conditions even more difficult, and led to riots in November 1830. These riots were supposedly led by a mythical figure known as "Captain Swing." Who this person was is not clear. In all probability there was no specific Captain Swing. Conditions reached a point where many people in different areas all came to a similar conclusion, giving the impression of some kind of organisation, which didn't really exist. The chaos of a difficult life produced its own sense of direction, and people called this Captain Swing. To the conservative forces of England Captain Swing was a Professor Moriarity, a shadowy figure that seemed to lie behind every problem, amplified in fearful imaginings, bringing dark order out of threatened chaos. The riots were met with an aggressive response from the government. Six hundred people were imprisoned, five hundred were deported, and nineteen were executed.

In the Dorset village of Tolpuddle a group of six farmers led by George Loveless decided to set up a union to improve their bargaining position with the landowners. The society grew, and in the spring of 1834 it was agreed that members of the union would insist on a minimum wage of ten shillings a week for any work they might do. Immediately the local landowners began to fear a repeat of the Swing Riots. James Frampton, the most influential figure among the landowners, was determined to uphold the status quo and suppress dissent. Frampton had witness the French Revolution at the end of the eighteenth century and was determined to avoid the same developments in Britain. He managed to have the Martyrs convicted on trumped up charges of taking an unlawful oath. This was a piece of legal trickery, using a law applicable to the Royal Navy, not to civilian agricultural lawyers. Even so, the law was heavily weighted against the Martyrs. Back in 1776 Adam Smith had written in The Wealth of Nations of the vulnerability of workers standing against their masters: "The masters, being fewer in number, can combine more easily; and the law, besides, authorises, or at least does not prohibit their combinations, while it prohibits those of the workmen. We have no acts of parliament against combining to lower the price of work, but many against combining to raise it." (1. 8. 169) The government backed the landowners, and the judge felt compelled to punish George Loveless and his companions as an example to others. The group was sentenced to transportation to Australia.

The injustice of this decision helped turn the group, now known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs, into popular heroes. Members of the government began to support their cause. Lord John Russell pointed out to Prime Minister Lord Melbourne that the Martyrs weren't the only people to take secret oaths: the Duke of Cumberland would take a secret oath as head of the orange Lodges of freemasons, but that did not condemn him to transportation to a penal colony. By March 1836 public pressure had reached the point where the government felt compelled to reverse the sentences. Most of the martyrs made new lives abroad. Only John Hammet returned to Tolpuddle, where he died in 1891 and is buried in the churchyard.

 

Thomas Standfield's Cottage

In Tolpuddle today you will find six cottages built by the TUC which house the Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum. The cottage of Thomas Standfield where the group met still survives. Meetings also used to be held on the green under a giant sycamore tree. The tree no longer survives, but there is a commemorative shelter and seat. Every July Trade Union members and socialist figures meet to parade past the green.

The museum has a variety of exhibits and interactive displays related to the Martyrs.

Opening Times: From April to October open 10am - 5pm Tuesday to Saturday, 11am - 5pm on Sundays. From November to March open Thursday to Saturday 10am - 4pm and Sunday 11am - 4pm.The museum is closed from 16th December to 3rd January. Admission is free.

There is a shop and limited refreshment facilities.

 

Directions: Tolpuddle is just off the A35 in Dorset, roughly half way between Poole and Dorchester. Click here for an interactive road and satellite map centred on Tolpuddle.

Access: wheelchair access is good.

Contact:

telephone: 01305 848 237

web site: www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk

e-mail: jpickering@tuc.org.uk