Here is another article, I don't know if anyone hasn't read this one. It was listed in Toronto, Canada paper in 1992, written by Alice Mulvey Petitions and marches have become so commonplace during the past couple of decades that we tend to think of them as modern methods to draw attention to some just causes. Farmers, factory workers and even professional people have gone on strike. But in researching the history of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, I have discovered that in Britain in 1834, some 35,000 people gathered near King's Cross in London, and marched through the city, down Whitehall to the Home Office. They carried banners and on a wooden roller, two feet wide and three feet long, were between 200,000 and 300,000 signatures protesting the harsh sentences of six men. FARM LABORERS: These six men were farm laborers from the village of Tolpuddle in Dorset, who had formed themselves into a Friendly Society of Agricultural Laborers. They were convicted of taking an illegal oath and sentenced to seven years in New South Wales (Australia). In 1834, transportation in convict ships to Australia was in full swing. George and James Loveless, James Brine, John Stanfield and Thomas Stanfield, along with James Hammett, found themselves part of this human cargo sent overseas. Unjustly convicted, worried what would happen to their wives and children, these men knew the misery of despair. For 20 hours a day, the prisoners were chained. In April, 1834, the convict ship Surrey set sail for New South Wales with five of the six Tolpuddle men aboard. George Loveless remained behind, ill in a Dorcester jail. It took the convict ship four months to reach Sydney harbor and release its prisoners. While these five Tolpuddle men landed in New South Wales, George Loveless later arrived at Van Dieman's Land. For three years, they suffered deprivation, hunger, floggings and humiliation. In England, their wives and familles were denied parish relief, and the unions came to their aid. At a mass meeting they inaugurated a fund to provide support and from all over the country came donations. Public opinion began to mount and finally in 1837 the six were granted a pardon and returned to their native shores. George Loveless, a Methodist lay preacher, wrote a pamphlet, The Victims of Whiggery, in which he outlined the persecutions, trial and banishment they had suffered. The paper sold well and helped to support their families. The Dorcester Farm Tribute started a fund to provide the men with their own farms and sufficient money was contributed for two farms to be leased. In 1838, the families were settled and everyone seemed happy that justice had prevailed. However, six years later, the Lovelesses and the Brines decided to emigrate to Canada, and London was their destination. George and Betsy Loveless purchased land in London Township, while James Brine took his family to farm in Huron County. The Stanfields came to Canada two years later and joined the Lovelesses on a neighboring farm at Siloam. Thirty years later, George Loveless died at age 77 and was buried beside his wife in Siloam Cemetery. Both Canada and Britain took part in the centenary celebrations in 1934 and the Canadian Trades and Labor Congress held its annual convention at the University of Western Ontario. The movement reminded the country that five men and their familles had found freedom, happiness and prosperity in Canada. An annual pilgrimage to the graves in Lisoam Cemetery took place each year on the Sunday before Labor Day until 1969, when the ceremonies were transferred to the Tolpuddle Pad. This is a small park behind Centennial Museum on Queens Avenue known as the Labor Memorial Park. Men and women of the labor movement are reminded of the debt of gratitude it owes to six farm laborers from Britain who have become known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs.