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The Tolpuddle Martyrs' Tree is a sycamore tree in the village of Tolpuddle, Dorset. The tree is approximately 336 years old. [1] It has become associated with the birth of the trade unionist movement.
In 1833 the tree was used as a meeting point for six local agricultural labourers to discuss low wages and poor living conditions under their employers. [2] Trees have been used for centuries as meeting places to discuss, and celebrate, offering shelter and a landmark; however, as a public space, people had to be careful what they talked about. [3] The employers of the six labourers, wishing to quash this dissent and supported by the government, ordered the men's arrest and in 1834 they were trialled in the nearby town of Dorchester under the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797. [4] Convicted of swearing a secret oath, the 'Tolpuddle Martyrs' (as they came to be known) were sentenced to seven years of penal labour in Australia and were transported to Botany Bay. Their plight gained public attention through protests and petitions. The public protest caused an embarrassed government to overturn the ruling, and after three years' labour as sheep farmers the men were freed and returned to England. [4]
Subsequently, the sycamore became a symbol of the birthplace of the trade union movement, providing "a symbol of hope for those whose lives are far from easy". [5]
The tree is a sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus). It was determined to be 320 years old in 2005, making it 150 years old when the Tolpuddle Martyrs used it as a meeting place. [1] It is the largest sycamore in Dorset, with a girth of 1.3 metres (4 ft 3 in). The sycamore is managed by the National Trust, which regularly pollards the tree to reduce weight on its branches and encourage crown growth. It is hoped this will increase the tree's lifespan to two centuries more. [6]
The tree has inspired numerous creative projects. [7] [ which? ] The shelter and relief it provided the Tolpuddle Martyrs is consistent with its other symbolic appearances in literature and the arts. [5] The tree was selected among 50 Great British Trees to commemorate the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002. It was shortlisted as England's Tree of the Year in 2015. [8]
Dorset is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south-east, the English Channel to the south, and Devon to the west. The largest settlement is Bournemouth, and the county town is Dorchester.
The Tolpuddle Martyrs were six agricultural labourers from the village of Tolpuddle in Dorset, England, who, in 1834, were convicted of swearing a secret oath as members of the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers. They were arrested on charges under an obscure act during a labour dispute over cut wages before being convicted in R v Loveless and Others and sentenced to penal transportation to Australia. They were pardoned in 1836 after mass protests by sympathisers and support from Lord John Russell and returned to England between 1837 and 1839.
Tolpuddle is a village in Dorset, England, on the River Piddle from which it takes its name, 8 miles (13 km) east of Dorchester, the county town, and 12 miles (19 km) west of Poole. The estimated population in 2013 was 420.
Dorchester is the county town of Dorset, England. It is situated between Poole and Bridport on the A35 trunk route. A historic market town, Dorchester is on the banks of the River Frome to the south of the Dorset Downs and north of the South Dorset Ridgeway that separates the area from Weymouth, 7 miles (11 km) to the south. The civil parish includes the experimental community of Poundbury and the suburb of Fordington.
Acer pseudoplatanus, known as the sycamore in the British Isles and as the sycamore maple in the United States, is a species of maple tree native to Central Europe and Western Asia. It is a large deciduous, broad-leaved tree, tolerant of wind and coastal exposure.
The Major Oak is a large English oak near the village of Edwinstowe in the midst of Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England. According to local folklore, it was Robin Hood's shelter where he and his merry men slept. It weighs an estimated 23 tons, has a girth of 33 feet, a canopy of 92 feet, and is about 800–1,000 years old. In 2014, it was voted 'England's Tree of the Year' by a public poll by the Woodland Trust, receiving 18% of the votes. Its name originates from Major Hayman Rooke's description of it in 1790.
The Swing Riots were a widespread uprising in 1830 by agricultural workers in southern and eastern England in protest of agricultural mechanisation and harsh working conditions. The riots began with the destruction of threshing machines in the Elham Valley area of East Kent in the summer of 1830 and by early December had spread through the whole of southern England and East Anglia. It was to be the largest movement of social unrest in 19th-century England.
Winfrith Newburgh, commonly called just Winfrith, is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is about 8 miles (13 km) west of Wareham and 10 miles (16 km) east of the county town Dorchester. It was historically part of the Winfrith hundred. In the 2011 Census the civil parish – which includes the hamlet of East Knighton to the northeast – had 300 households and a population of 669. An electoral ward simply named "Winfrith" exists but extends northwards to Briantspuddle. The total population of this ward was 1,618.
The Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival and Rally is an annual festival held in the village of Tolpuddle, in Dorset, England, which celebrates the memory of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. The event is a celebration of trade unionism and labour politics organised by the Dorset Committee of the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers, now a section of Unite the Union, and the Trades Union Congress (TUC). The festival is usually held in the third week of July, and features a parade of banners from trade unions, a memorial service, speeches and music.
The National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers (NUAW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1906 and 1982. It represented farmworkers.
The Grand National Consolidated Trades Union of 1834 was an early attempt to form a national union confederation in the United Kingdom.
Comrades is a 1986 British historical drama film directed by Bill Douglas and starring an ensemble cast including Robin Soans, Phil Davis, Keith Allen, Robert Stephens, Vanessa Redgrave and James Fox. Through the pictures of a travelling lanternist, it depicts the story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, who were arrested and transported to Australia in 1834 for trying to improve their conditions by forming an early form of trade union. It was Bill Douglas's last film.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of about 5.5 million members. Paul Nowak is the TUC's current General Secretary, serving from January 2023.
R v Lovelass and Others (1834) 172 ER 1380 is a formative case in the history of UK labour law. It saw the Tolpuddle Martyrs, farm workers who wished to form a union to prevent wage cuts, convicted and deported to Australia. It triggered protests, which led to the workers' eventual release and return to Britain.
The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement or labor union movement on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other.
In politics, a martyr is someone who suffers persecution and/or death for advocating, renouncing, refusing to renounce, and/or refusing to advocate a political belief or cause.
Shire Hall is an 18th-century courthouse in Dorchester, Dorset. The building was the centre of law, order and government, and served as the county hall for Dorset until 1955. It has been Grade I listed since 1950. In 2018, the hall opened as the Shire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum.
There are several cottages associated with the Tolpuddle Martyrs. Most are in Tolpuddle in Dorset while one is in Essex.
George Loveless was a British Methodist preacher and a leader of a group of six agricultural workers who became known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs.
Thomas Standfield was an English agricultural worker, Methodist and trade union organiser.