Agricultural History Review, Volume 53 Part 1 (2005), pp. 41–77

Dorset was notorious in the mid-nineteenth century for its low agricultural wages and the poverty of its labourers. This paper traces the first years of union activity in the county, 1872-4. It is based largely on reports carried by a short-lived but sympathetic newspaper which are extensively quoted to give a flavour of the source and the extreme hostility the Union provoked. Particular attention is paid to Milborne St Andrew where in 1872 the farmers appear to have accepted at least some union demands for higher wages but dismissed pro-union labourers after the harvest of that year. A new strike in the spring of 1874 was countered by a lockout and evictions. The background to the much-reproduced photographs of the evictions at Milborne St Andrews is explained. 

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