Friday 20 November 2009

Tolpuddle Martyrs Memorial Arch 1912


The Tolpuddle Martyr Memorial Arch stands outside the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Tolpuddle Village, Dorset.

It was unveiled on Monday 27th May 1912 by the Wesleyan, Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 20 October 1935) Labour Member of Parliament for Durham.

It states on the Tolpuddle Martyrs Memorial Arch that this memorial arch was was:-

'erected in Honour of the Faithful and Brave Men who so nobly suffered transportation in the cause of Liberty, Justice and Righteousness'.




The words on a separate panel include the statement of George Loveless, when invited to speak by the judge before the sentence was pronounced:



"We have injured no man's reputation, character, person or property; we were uniting together to preserve ourselves, our wives and our children, from utter degradation and starvation.
We challenge any man. or number of men, to prove. that we have acted, or intended to act, different from the above statement".