But decades later, freedmen struggled to gain land to cultivate and generally worked at very low wages. As they generally could not afford to pay the poll tax, so were excluded from voting. In October 1865, the Morant Bay rebellion took place in St Thomas. Formerly enslaved people and their descendants all over Jamaica were discontented about the social injustices, particularly on the question of land tenure. Baptist deacon and preacher Paul Bogle of St. Thomas parish led a delegation of small farmers who walked to present their grievances to Edward John Eyre the Governor of Jamaica in the capital Spanish Town, but they were denied an audience. Angered after a case in which a peasant was convicted of trespass on a long-abandoned plantation, on 11 October, Paul Bogle and his followers, armed with sticks and machetes marched to the Court House in Morant Bay where a vestry meeting was being held. The authorities read the Riot Act, but the protestors ignored it. A few people began to throw stones at the volunteer militia, who fired into the crowd and killed seven people. Later the mob reorganized and returned, setting fire to the Court House and nearby buildings. When the custos, Maximillian von Ketelhodt, and others tried to leave the burning building, the mob killed them. A total of 25 people died on both sides that day. During the next two days the peasants took over St. Thomas parish. The governor declared martial law in the parish and ordered troops to suppress the rebellion. More than 430 people were killed outright by soldiers in suppression of the rebellion, and more than 1,000 homes were burned to the ground, leaving thousands of people homeless. They arrested more than 300, executing some and punishing many innocent people. Representative George William Gordon, who was in touch with Paul Bogle, spoke out for the workers in the House of Assembly in Kingston. The governor ordered him arrested and returned to Morant Bay, where he was tried under martial law for conspiracy and hanged on 23 October. The following day Bogle was captured by Jamaican Maroons from Moore Town, handed over to the authorities, and hanged. A public outcry in Great Britain led to the appointment of a Royal Commission to investigate events. Although Eyre was forced to resign and twice charged with murder, his case never went to trial. In 1969, the Right Excellent Paul Bogle was named a National Hero of Jamaica, as were George William Gordon, Marcus Garvey, Sir Alexander Bustamante, and Norman Washington Manley.