Islington Gazette - Marchers commemorate brave stand of Martyrs

Complex Needs & Challenging Behaviour
nlnews@archant.co.uk30 April 2009MP Emily Thornberry (right) and Frances O’Grady (centre), of the TUC, lead the march into Edward SquareMP Emily Thornberry (right) and Frances O’Grady (centre), of the TUC, lead the march into Edward SquareHUNDREDS of workers reclaimed Islington's radical history as they marched in memory of the first trade unionists.With banners held aloft and listening to the strains of left-wing protest singer Billy Bragg, they remembered the sacrifice of the Tolpuddle Martyrs 175 years ago.On April 21, 1834, a 100,000-strong mass marched on Copenhagen Fields - in what is now the borough of Islington - to demand the release of the six Tolpuddle Martyrs.The "martyrs" were Dorset farm workers who had been sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia for forming a union to campaign against the lowering of wages.And last week, Islington held one of its biggest ever celebrations in their memory.It culminated on Saturday with hundreds of people marching from Holloway's Caledonian Park - where a plaque was unveiled - to Edward Square, off Copenhagen Street. There the celebrations continued, with performers such as Tolpuddle favourite Bragg and folk musician Martin Carthy.Mick Gilgunn, secretary of the Islington Trades Union Council, said: "Nothing has been given to us over the years - we have had to fight for it. We have had to fight for the right to have trade unions. We have had to fight for the right to have an NHS. And around the globe, people are still denied the right to be involved in free assembly and association."So we celebrate the Tolpuddle Martyrs because we have freedoms here whereas in other countries around the globe, they don't."The 1834 Tolpuddle Martyrs protest is part of a long tradition of radical activism in Islington. The Chartists, a political reform movement in the 1840s, frequented the coffee houses of Jerusalem Passage, Finsbury. The 19th century political thinker John Stuart Mill addressed a decisive meeting of Reformists in Upper Street. And the 18th century radical Thomas Paine wrote parts of his seminal work the Rights of Man at what was once the Angel Inn.Mr Gilgunn said: "There is a whole radical history in Islington. Karl Marx had meetings in Islington. George Orwell wrote books in Islington. There is a people's history here and it needs to be reclaimed.

Islington Gazette - Marchers commemorate brave stand of Martyrs

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