Lectures from the 2024 Tolpuddle Family Lives project
These lectures were delivered as part of TOCT’s 2024 programme, ‘Tolpuddle Family Lives’ funded by Historic England’s national project, ‘Everyday Heritage: Celebrating Working-Class Histories’.
Professor Philip Martin: The Building in our midst: a brief history of Tolpuddle Old Chapel and the stories it holds
An account of the Old Chapel’s history and anti-Methodism in the early 19th century.
Professor Rachel Worth: Rural Working-Class Clothing and Change in Victorian England
Professor Emerita Rachel Worth gave an illustrated talk about how the rural poor dressed in the 19th century with particular reference to Dorset.
Sophie Wright: The Life of Tolpuddle’s landless, working folk
Sophie Wright, author of the play ‘To Win The Day’ talks about the unsung people of Dorset and the hardships of nineteenth-century country life. Sophie uses song and quotations to illustrate her talk, drawing on a variety of sources including the local songs collected by the Hammond brothers in the early years of the twentieth century.
Steve Wallis: Drowning the Landscape
Steve Wallis, Senior Archaeologist at Dorset Council gave a fascinating and informative talk about one of the most important features in the history of local farm labour: the watermeadows of the Frome and Piddle valleys. Some of the video quality is reduced due to some technical issue on the day which hopefully doesn’t detract from the presentation.
Anne Brown: 150 years of Courtroom Drama
Anne relates stories of ordinary working folk who appeared in the courtroom at the Shire Hall in the nineteenth century. The Georgian courtroom was the scene of famous and infamous trials throughout this period, from the internationally significant Tolpuddle Martyrs, to Martha Brown, said to be the inspiration for Hardy’s Tess of the D’Ubervilles. Particularly fascinating, are the stories of the ordinary Dorset men, women and children who found themselves in the dock during the 19th century.
Professor Philip Martin: George Loveless, ultra-radicalism and the Tolpuddle context
Professor Philip Martin, former Chair of the Tolpuddle Old Chapel Trust, gave a very informative and interesting talk during the Martyrs Festival weekend on the background of George Loveless in the years leading up to his arrest as one of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. This opens up a whole new series of events, one that is not widely known or publicised.
Brent Shore: Chartism and the Plug Riots on the 1840s
Brent Shore, Tolpuddle-based novelist, talks about his book about Chartism and the Plug Riots in the 1840s. Although the book is a work of fiction it is based of historical events and draws parallels between what was happening in the town of Hyde and the village of Tolpuddle.
Sophie Wright: Folk Evening
Sophie Wright gives us an evening of local folk songs and stories about ‘unsung’ Dorset folk accompanied by fellow musician, Richard Wirdnam, and Martin Stephen who will read the stories.
Dr. Rose Wallis: Agricultural Riots in Dorset in the 1830s
Dr. Rose Wallis gave a very interesting talk at the Tolpuddle Old Chapel on the reasons behind the uprising of the Swing Riots in Dorset and the surrounding areas and their effects of the working class people.
Tim Laycock: Six Men Of Dorset
Tim Laycock talks about his recent production – Six Men Of Dorset – performed by the New Hardy Players in the summer of 2024. Act 1 was performed at the Corn Exchange Dorchester and Act 2 performed at Shire Hall and gives us an insight into the lives of the Tolpuddle Martyrs and their arrest and convictions.