Martyrdom Gallery

Posters warning those guilty of illegal oaths were liable to deportation, (1834), 1934

Posters warning that people found guilty of uttering illegal oaths were liable to deportation, 1834. On 24th February 1834 local landowners in Dorset put up posters warning that people found guilty of uttering illegal oaths were liable to deportation. The Tolpuddle Martyrs were a group of 19th century agricultural labourers from Dorset who were convicted of swearing a secret oath as members of the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers. The rules of the society show it was clearly structured as a friendly society and operated as a trade-specific benefit society. But at the time, friendly societies had strong elements of what would now be considered trade unions. Before 1824/25 the Combination Acts had outlawed combining or organising to gain better working conditions. The Tolpuddle Martyrs were subsequently sentenced to transportation to Australia. Their convictions caused public outcry and 800, 000 signatures were collected for their release. The march organised by thier supporters was one of the first successful political marches in the UK, and all, except James Hammett (who had a previous criminal record for theft) were released in 1836. From The Book of The Martyrs of Tolpuddle: 1834-1934, published by The Trades Union Congress General Council, 1934

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Sir Thomas More, 1527, (1902). Artist: Hans Holbein the Younger

Sir Thomas More, 1527, (1902). Portrait of More (1478-1535) as Henry VIII's Lord Chancellor. More refused to subscribe to the Act of Supremacy which made Henry the head of the English Church. In 1534 he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, and beheaded on a charge of treason the following year. Illustration from Henry VIII, by A F Pollard, published by Goupil and Co, (London, New York, Paris, Edinburgh, 1902)

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Edith Cavell, British nurse and humanitarian, c1915, (c1920)

Edith Cavell, British nurse and humanitarian, c1915, (c1920). Edith Cavell (1865-1915) helped hundreds of Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during World War I. She was shot by the Germans. Illustration from The Illustrated War Record of the Most Notable Episodes in the Great European War 1914-1918, seventh edition, (The Swarthmore Press Ltd, London, c1920)

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