Events

The Georgian courtroom in Shire Hall was the scene of many famous and infamous trials, the most famous being that of the six agricultural labourers known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs. This talk looks at the background to their story, the punishment they endured and the changes these ordinary Dorset working men made to their local area and to society as a whole. 
Speaker: Anne Brown 

When Rachel discovered a forger in the family, her research uncovered lots more about the crime and other C18th lawbreakers: the schoolmaster pressed into the Royal Navy who became a forger on discharge; the exciseman who found himself out of pocket when whisky production was regulated; the architect who was transported to Australia for forgery and ended up on a (legal) bank note.                              
Speaker: Rachel Rowe