From historyhome.co.uk; It took eighteen months for the Reform Act to go through parliament; the legislation came after public meetings, demonstrations, riots and potentially a revolution. The Whig government under Earl Grey was opposed by the Tories led by the Duke of Wellington who, ultimately, allowed the Bill to pass by telling the Tory Lords not to oppose the Bill any longer. The campaign was long and drawn out.

1831. On 1 March 1831, the Reform Bill was introduced to the Commons by Lord John Russell who bored MPs almost into falling asleep, until the announcement of Schedule A - the list of boroughs that were to be disenfranchised. This came as a shock to Whigs and Tories alike. Peel failed to kill the Bill by forcing a division. This pushed him back towards the die-hard Tories. The vote was taken at 3.03 a.m. on 23 March 1831. The Bill passed by one vote - because an opposition MP missed the division by mistake.

The debate began in the Lords on 7 May. The government made it clear that if they were defeated they would either secure the creation of peers or resign. The opposition still carried the amendment postponing the disenfranchising clauses of the Bill by 151:116 because - as Le Marchant said, 'The Peers with few exceptions - as usually happens when a question is imperfectly understood and the House is taken by surprise - voted according to Party.' Grey decided not to stay in office without the creation of the fifty or sixty peers. He needed the creations as a matter of principle and also to defend the government's standing with the reform movement. Grey expected the king to refuse, and most of the government hoped that he would.

Also on 7 May a meeting attended by 100,000 (said Attwood) was held on Newhall Hill, Birmingham in support of the Bill. It was a "Gathering of the Unions" which existed in the Midlands. It was mis-timed because reports of the meeting were not available in London on 9 May, the day on which William IV accepted the resignations of the Cabinet after refusing to create the peers needed to pass the Bill, although he wanted a government which could pass an 'extensive' Reform Bill. The following day, the news of Grey's resignation reached Birmingham and prompted another mass meeting, which assembled spontaneously.

1832. The Bill's third reading in the Lords passed by 106 votes to 22 on 4 June, mainly because the Tories failed to turn up for the vote; on 7 June it received the Royal Assent. The king refused to announce this in person and his assent was declared by commission. The Act, as finally passed, was not greatly different from the original Bill which had been introduced to the Commons in March 1831.

Today, it's hard to imagine how the whole country could be held in the spell of a controversial proposal and the passage of a bill through Parliament!

1834. The Tolpuddle Martyrs convicted of swearing secret oaths and sentenced to transportation to Australia.

From wikipedia;
1836. In England they became popular heroes and 800,000 signatures were collected for their release. Their supporters organised a political march, one of the first successful marches in the United Kingdom, and all were eventually pardoned in March 1836 on the condition of good conduct, with the support of Lord John Russell, who had recently become Home Secretary. When the pardon reached George Loveless some delay was caused in his leaving due to no word from his wife as to whether she was to join him in Van Diemen's Land. On 23 December 1836, a letter was received to the effect that she was not coming and Loveless sailed from Van Diemen's Land on 30 January 1837, arrived in England on 13 June 1837.

1837. In New South Wales, there were delays in obtaining an early sailing due to tardiness in the authorities confirming good conduct with the convicts' assignees and then getting them released from their assignments. James Loveless, Thomas and John Standfield, and James Brine departed Sydney on the John Barry on 11 September 1837, reaching Plymouth (one of the departure points for convict transport ships) on 17 March 1838. A plaque next to the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth's historical Barbican area commemorates the arrival. Although due to depart with the others, James Hammett was detained in Windsor, charged with an assault, while the others left the colony. It was not until March 1839 that he sailed, arriving in England in August 1839.