The Innocent - Thomas Helliker in song

Aim

We need £2,000 to make an audio recording of "The Innocent" - the tragic story of Thomas Hellliker's unjust death told in words and song

The Trowbridge Martyr, Thomas Helliker was unjustly hanged in Salisbury on his 19th birthday, 22 March 1803, for a crime he did not commit during the industrial unrest that followed the introduction of machines in the wool industry.
Two hundred people escorted his body across the Salisbury Plain back to St James' churchyard in Trowbridge and a carved chamber tombstone was erected in his memory by the Shearmen of Wiltshire, Somerset and Yorkshire.
A show telling his tragic story has been written by Mick Ryan and Steven Faux, both well respected musicians, Mick as a singer songwriter and Steven as a musician and composer. They are joined in performing the show by seven popular and well known folk singers; Bob & Gill Berry, Bryony McGinty, Dave Bordeway, Dave Webber & Anni Fentiman and Rosie Upton.
White Horse (Wiltshire) Trades Council's goal is to raise £2,000 to pay for the show to be recorded so that the important and poignantly-told story of the Trowbridge Martyr can be heard by as wide an audience as possible.
Every donation, large or small, brings us closer to our goal. Please help. Let’s make sure Thomas Helliker’s story lives on.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 15th October 2026 at 11:37am