George Loveless (preacher)

A Methodist lay preacher and farm labourer in Tolpuddle, Dorset, Loveless formed a friendly society in 1833 to resist wage cuts, meeting under the village sycamore now known as the Martyrs' Tree. He and five others were sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia for swearing a secret oath. A mass petition of around 800,000 signatures and a march through London won their pardon in 1836. The "Tolpuddle Martyrs" became the founding story of British trade unionism, and the TUC still holds an annual festival in the village.