The Tolpuddle Martyrs

The legend of the six rural labourers who were transported to Australia in 1834 for swearing an oath of solidarity is celebrated as the foundation of the modern trade union movement. The labourers suffered no violence 'save the extreme and horrible violence of the law itself'. The true lesson from the story demonstrates that societies need guarantees to prevent 'injustice within the law'.

“'Evatt carefully traces how the law was used against these vulnerable men by those with more money and power in the locality ... Geoffrey Robertson's elegantly written introduction to this re-issue of Evatt's treatise suggests that the Doc's recognition that law can be a vehicle for injustice was pivotal in inspiring his personal commitment to establishing guarantees of basic human rights in modern society.'”

'When set against the background of such triumph, failure and tragedy, it would be easy to overlook or underestimate Evatt’s very considerable achievements and abilities as a historian. The Tolpuddle Martyrs perhaps finds him at the height of his intellectual powers. This book is a remarkable exercise in scholarly discipline and objectivity; one in which the passionate advocate of social justice is balanced by the jurist ... '

Herbert Vere Evatt (1894–1965) was an Australian judge, lawyer, politician, and writer who presided over the United Nations General Assembly (1948–1949) and helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Geoffrey Robertson Q.C. is a human rights barrister and visiting professor at Queen Mary University of London.

The legend of the six rural labourers who were transported to Australia in 1834 for swearing an oath of solidarity is celebrated as the foundation of the modern trade union movement. The labourers suffered no violence 'save the extreme and horrible violence of the law itself'. The true lesson from the story demonstrates that societies need guarantees to prevent 'injustice within the law'.

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