Tolpuddle is one of the most famous villages in the world, and the birth place of Trade Unionism in England. The 'Tolpuddle Martyrs' were all farm labourers who decided to set up a Union in Tolpuddle to give them bargaining strength to curb their impoverished conditions.

In 1830 the wage of an agricultural labourer was nine shillings. In the following years the wage was reduced to eight shillings, and then to seven.  In 1834 wages were to reduce to just six shillings less that a buttonmaker received! The men of Tolpuddle formed a friendly society which was inspired by George Loveless an agricultural labourer. Between them they decided to work for nothing less than 10 shillings a week. News travelled and the authorities ordered the arrest of the six men in March 1834 George Loveless, James Hammett, James Brine,  James Loveless (George's brother), George's brother in-law, Thomas Standfield and his son, John Standfield. The judge who was under pressure from the government  and sentenced George Loveless and his followers to seven years transportation to the penal colony in New South Wales, Australia for 'administering illegal oaths'  to set an example to others rather than for what they had done, but the injustice of their sentence led to a massive campaign across the country.

The six men became popular heroes and a protest movement formed. One of their supporters Lord John Russell in his argument to the Prime minister, Lord Melbourne to pardon the Tolpuddle Martyrs stated "that if being members of a secret society and administering secret oaths was a crime, the reactionary Duke of Cumberland as head of the Orange Lodges was equally deserving of transportation".

In March 1836 the Government were forced to drop the sentances due to public pressure though only James Hammett returned to Tolpuddle where he died in 1891 and was buried in the churchyard. The martyrs are commemorated each summer at a special festival in Tolpuddle which attracts trade unionists from around the world.

"I am told that the working man ought to remain still and let their cause work its way - that God in his good time will bring it about for him. However, this is not my creed; I believe that God works by means and men, and that he expects every man who feels an interest in the subject to take an active part in bringing about and hastening on so important a period. Under such an impression, I would call upon every working man in England , and especially the agricultural labourers, who appear to be the lowest, degraded, and the least active, to shake off that supineness and indifference to their interests, which leaves them in the situation of slaves. Let every working man come forward, from east to west, from north to south; unite firmly but peaceably together as the heart of one man; let them be determined to have a voice in, and form part of, the British nation; then no longer would the interests of the millions be sacrificed for the gain of a few, but the blessings resulting from such a change would be felt by us, our prosperity, even to generations yet unborn".

Tolpuddle, August, 1837 George Loveless.