Catalogue Number
NMLH.2014.21.24
Object Name
Badge
Title
Tolpuddle martyrs TUC
Place
Tolpuddle
People
Trade Union Congress (TUC); Tolpuddle Martyrs
Description
Round yellow badge with "TOLPUDDLE MARTYRS" at the top, "TUC" at the bottom. In the middle is a hexagon-outlined illustration of a man in chains looking at a 19th century ship sailing away. There are six stars in the sky and "1834" at the lower edge of the hexagon.
The Tolpuddle Martyrs - James Brine, James Hammett, George Loveless, James Loveless, Thomas Standfield and John Standfield - were six agricultural labourers who were arrested in 1834 for swearing a secret oath to become members of the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers. Unionisation to demand better work conditions had been illegal in England until 1825, and was severely policed at the time the men were arrested. They were convicted under the Unlawful Oaths Act, after participating in a labour dispute over cut wages. The Martyrs were convicted and sentenced to transportation to Australia.
In England eight hundred thousand signitures were collected and the first known political march was conducted to pressure the government to pardon them. This was successful, and the men were pardoned in 1836, returning to England between 1837-1839. They became icons to the labour and trade union movements and are still celebrated by left wing artists today.
