Tolpuddle Martyrs Sentenced: Punishment and Protest
On this day, 18 March 1834 the British Tolpuddle martyrs — James Brine, James Hammett, George Loveless, James Loveless, John Standfield, and Thomas Standfield — were sentenced to 7 years' transportation to Australia for attempting to organise a union. They had been trying to fight pay cuts for agricultural workers, but were shipped to Australia in appalling conditions. However the draconian sentences provoked a public outcry, and a mass campaign in their support eventually forced the King to pardon them.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9015/tolpuddle-martyrs-sentenced
