AN annual ceremony honouring the only Tolpuddle Martyr buried in Dorset took place last week.

James Hammett was one of six Dorset labourers who were handed harsh punishment when they dared to form a trade union to protest against reductions to their meagre wage in 1834.

Their story has served as inspiration in the fight against injustice and oppression ever since.

Chair of Dorset Council, councillor Stella Jones MBE, and the High Sheriff of Dorset, Anthony Woodhouse, paid their respects at the grave of James Hammett with floral tributes at St John the Evangelist Churchyard earlier this month.

The event was attended by Honorary Alderman Pauline Batstone, founder chairman/heritage ambassador of the Tolpuddle Old Chapel Trust, Andrew McCarthy, and trustee and chairman of the trust, professor Philip Martin.

This followed a tour of the recently renovated Tolpuddle Old Chapel – a building that is pivotal to the Martyrs’ understanding of social injustice.

James Hammett’s grave Picture: tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk

Built in 1818, the Old Chapel is a Grade II listed building and a rare example of an early nineteenth-century earthen vernacular Wesleyan Methodist Chapel. Some of the men who later became known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs constructed this chapel.

The chapel’s modest architectural features reflect the social history of the labouring people through the ages.

It marks the origin of one of the most extraordinary social protests and parliamentary contentions in British history.

From this small dot in the Dorset landscape, a massive controversy erupted over the rights of the labouring poor and their claims for just wages, religious independence, and legal protection.

The Toldpuddle Martyrs’ story

Six Dorset farm labourers met in secret in 1834 to form a union, the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers, in protest of their third wage cut in as many years and to discuss how to improve working conditions.

In today’s money, matching inflation, the workers were given around £50 a week to live on – a wage they would not have been able to feed their families on.

The Martyrs swore an oath of secrecy as part of their union and it was the swearing of this oath that saw them sentenced to seven years’ transportation in Australia.

This comes at a time when landowners in England were particularly concerned with workers’ uprisings given the fallout of the French Revolution and took any and every opportunity to crush workers’ organisation of this type.

The Tolpuddle six Picture: tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk

Fears of organised labour led to the government invoking a 1797 law against unlawful oaths to bring charges forward.

The working class rose up to support the Martyrs, and 800,000 people signed a petition protesting the sentence, with many taking part in a demonstration through London.

In June 1835, the Martyrs had been granted conditional pardons and following further pressure and 16 more petitions being presented to Parliament, the men were granted full and free pardons by March 1836.

This first big win marked a turning point for trade unions.

The rallying call written by one of the Martyrs George Loveless, “We raise the watchword, liberty. We will, we will, we will be free!” has echoed throughout history as people fight against oppression and workers fight for their rights.

The Martyrs’ plight has become synonymous with championing workers’ rights, and a festival is held each year to honour and remember them.

The only Martyr buried in the county was James Hammett and a wreath-laying ceremony takes place each year to honour the legacy of the six.

The Tolpuddle Old Chapel Trust, formed in 2014, aims to preserve the Martyrs’ legacy by renovating the chapel.

With support from Dorset Council, the National Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic England, and 11 charitable funding bodies, the renovation and extension were completed on September 1, 2023.

Today, Tolpuddle Old Chapel stands as a local and national asset, offering a rich program of heritage-related activities that serve both local needs and visitors’ interests.

Visit www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk/ for the full story on the Martyrs and tolpuddleoldchapeltrust.org for more information about the chapel.