Copenhagen House was a famous tavern & tea-garden which stood in what is now Copenhagen Park, N7, from early 17th century until 1855. The name either comes from the King of Denmark who stayed in the house during a state visit in 1606, or the Danish ambassador during the 1665 London plague.
Copenhagen Fields, named after the house, stretched from the house practically down to what is now King's Cross Station.
During the 18th and 19th century the Fields became the equivalent of our Speakers' Corner and Trafalgar Square rolled into one.
On 21 April 1834 approximately 100,000 Londoners met here to march for the pardon of the 6 Dorset farm labourers, known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs, transported to Australia for joining a trade union. 12 trade unionists carried a huge petition mounted on a pole at the head of the 6 mile long procession to Parliament at Westminster. The government was forced to give pardons and eventually all of the transported labourers returned home.
