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wood prints black and white wood prints engraving wood prints message wood prints vertical wood prints politics and government wood prints rules wood prints politics wood prints handwriting wood prints martyr wood prints archival wood prints illustration wood prints uk wood prints wife wood prints home secretary wood prints western script wood prints

drawings black and white drawings engraving drawings message drawings vertical drawings politics and government drawings rules drawings politics drawings handwriting drawings martyr drawings archival drawings illustration drawings uk drawings wife drawings home secretary drawings western script drawings

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The letter written to Home Secretary John Russell (1792-1878) by the wives of the Tolpuddle Martyrs', 1836. The Tolpuddle Martyrs were a group of 19th century agricultural labourers from Dorset who were convicted of swearing a secret oath as members of the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers. The rules of the society show it was clearly structured as a friendly society and operated as a trade-specific benefit society. At the time, friendly societies had strong elements of what would now be considered trade unions. Before 1824/25 the Combination Acts had outlawed 'combining' or organising to gain better working conditions. The Tolpuddle Martyrs were subsequently sentenced to transportation to Australia. Their convictions caused public outcry and 800,000 signatures were collected for their release. The march organised by thier supporters was one of the first successful political marches in the UK, and all, except James Hammett (who had a previous criminal record for theft) were re...