An Early Trade Union

Painted on a wall in Camden is this tribute to the Tolpuddle Martyrs.  Who were they?  Well they were agricultural labourers who worked on farms around Dorset during the 19th century.  Landowners of the period kept cutting wages until the labourers rebelled.  They formed a secret society to enable better organising of their protest.

One landowner decided he wasn't having a bar of this and wrote to the prime minister demanding that they be charged under some obscure 18th century law that forbade people swearing oaths to one another.  Makes me wonder if marriage is legal then.  That aside, the leaders of the friendly society were duly charged and convicted.  Their sentence was to be be shipped out to Australia.  You did know all those Aussies are a bunch of criminals didn't you?

The sentence did not go down very well with the population at all.  The protest grew even bigger.  Marches and petitions ensued until the government relented and brought the men back from Australia.  Well not quite all of them, a couple of the men who had other convictions remained there. 

The Martyrs

I heard the drums roll and then saw these gentlemen marching by. Who are they? The sashes and banners say Martyrs, from various places, Essex, Kent, Medway. I found a little information from a google search that tells of a protestant martyr burned to death in 1555, for not attending a catholic mass, then I found contradicting information, saying those who were catholics were the martyrs.
I'm still none the wiser as to the organisation represented here.

I can tell you though they were not keen on being photographed. Come on guys if you are going to march through the streets of London dressed like this and banging drums, expect to be photographed.