''R v Lovelass and Others'' (1834) 172 ER 1380 is a formative case in the history of

UK labour law United Kingdom labour law regulates the relations between workers, employers and trade unions. People at work in the UK have a minimum set of employment rights, from Acts of Parliament, Regulations, common law and equity (legal concept), equity. ...

. It saw the

Tolpuddle Martyrs The Tolpuddle Martyrs were six agricultural labourers from the village of Tolpuddle in Dorset, England, who were arrested and tried in 1834 for swearing a secret oath as members of a friendly society. Led by George Loveless, the group had ...

, farm workers who wished to form a union to prevent wage cuts, convicted and deported to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It triggered protests, which led to the workers' eventual release and return to Britain.

Facts

Tolpuddle Tolpuddle () is a village in the civil parish of Burleston and Tolpuddle, in Dorset, England, on the River Piddle from which it takes its name, east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, the county town, and west of Poole. The estimated populatio ...

, a village in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, George Lovelass (also spelled "Loveless" in a different report of the trial,''R v Loveless and Five Others'' (1834) 1 Moody and Robinson 349, 174 ER 119 and sometimes "Lovelace") and James Lovelass, James Brine, James Hammett, and John Standfield, had met in Thomas Standfield’s house, and had taken an oath to combine to attempt to raise wages for agricultural workers. They formed the ''Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers''. A witness, Edward Legg, had also taken the oath which included an undertaking to reveal nothing. Under the

Unlawful Oaths Act 1797 Unlawful Oaths Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland relating to unlawful oaths. The bill for an act with this short title may have been known as an Unlawful Oaths ...

, passed in response to naval mutinies following the French Revolution, it was illegal to make an oath, and a further offence to not reveal the oath. Lock (also spelled as Lark in the case report) gave evidence as a witness. Edward Legg as a witness said the following. Counsel for the defence argued that the purpose of the 1797 Act was to target mutiny and sedition, to break allegiance to the King. Associations to raise wages should no longer be illegal. The lodges of Freemasons were no different. Therefore, the Tolpuddle labourers had done nothing unlawful.

Judgment

Williams B gave the following directions to the jury, that the 1797 Act was essentially applicable to the labourers attempt to combine. The jury returned a verdict of guilty, that oaths were taken, and further oaths taken not to disclose the oaths. The prisoners were then to be deported to Australia.

Significance

The case triggered a swell of protest. 800,000 signatures were collected for the Tolpuddle labourers, soon to be known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs, to be released. Eventually, in 1837, the Home Secretary did release them and returned them to Britain. A

Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival and Rally The Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival and Rally is an annual festival held in the village of Tolpuddle, in Dorset, England, which celebrates the memory of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. The event is a celebration of trade unionism and labour politics organised ...

is held annually in Tolpuddle, usually in the third week of July, organised by the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

S Webb Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, (13 July 1859 – 13 October 1947) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, who co-founded the London School of Economics. He was an early member of the Fabian Society in 1884, joining, like Geo ...

and

B Webb Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociologist, economist, feminist and social reformer. She was among the founders of the London School of Economics and played a crucia ...

, ''

The History of Trade Unionism ''The History of Trade Unionism'' (1894, new edition 1920) is a book by Sidney and Beatrice Webb on the British trade union movement's development before 1920. First published in 1894, it is a detailed and influential accounting of the roots a ...