Almost all the material here is taken from the Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War website, and almost all of the information there on conscientious objectors is taken from the Pearce Register of British Conscientious Objectors database. This remarkabale database was the work of the now-retired Leeds University lecturere Cyril Pearce.
The addresses would seem to record where the men were living at the time of their conscription.
A very helpful glossary put on line by the Peace Pledge Union provides informationon on the terms and abbreviations in the entries.
See also:
Conscientious objection is Preston and Lancashire
Great War conscription and Edwardian Preston’s ‘class ceiling’
Harry Ainsworth
Born 1886, Harry was living at 25, Balcarres Road when called up in 1917. His motivation for objecting was given as political in that he was a member of the Preston branch of the Independent Labour Party; non-sectarian; and a Cloggers’ Union delegate to Preston Trades Council.
He was arrested after failing to report for conscription, and on 2 February 1917 he was fined forty shillings by Preston Police Court and handed over to the 3 Loyal Lancashires at Fulwood Barracks. He was court martialled on 13 April 1917 for refusing to obey orders and sentenced to hard labour for a year at Wormwood Scrubs; the sentence was commuted to 56 days.
The Central Tribunal at Wormwood Scrubs determined that his objection to military service was genuine, referred him to the Brace Committee and he was sent to a Home Office Scheme in Wakefield on 14 May 1917.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
His gravestone in St Andrew’s RC Church, Cottam, shows that Harry died on 9 November 1969 aged 83, that he married and he and his wife, Elizabeth, had at least one child, John.
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7647159
Harold Beardsworth
Born in 1897, he was living at 10, Bloomfield Street when called up and working as a painter’s apprentice.
When Harold appeared before a military service tribunal in Preston on 14 July 1916 he agreed to accept civilian work as an alternative to military service. From 19 July 1916 to 15 August 1916 he worked at Leyland Motors, the work being deemed as of ‘national importance’.
A second tribunal withdrew his exemption from military service and assigned his to a Non-Combatant Corps and he was sent to the Kinmel Park army training camp in Wales. The date given in the record for this tribunal is 15 July 1916, the day after the first tribunal. There is no explanation for this ambiguity.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
Additional information
Harold was the brother of Oswald Beardsworth
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7655995
James Oswald Beardsworth
(wrongly transcribed as Birdsworth on the Lives of the First World War website)
No birth year given. James’ address was given as 10, Bloomfield Street. He was a member of the Plymouth Brethren, which would probably have been the reason a Military Service Tribunal meeting at Preston on 20 March 1917 granted him exemption from serving in the military.
He was posted to the Non-Combatant Corps at Kinmel Park army training camp in Wales, moving to Park Hall, Oswestry, in May 1917.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
Additional information
Oswald was the brother of Harold Beardsworth
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7661617
William Harold Bibby
Born 1900, William was living at 25 Linton Street in 1918 when called up and working as a railway goods clerk. He was a Quaker and is listed as an attender at the Preston preparative monthly meetings, Sunday School teacher and Sibford scholar. Sibford School is a co-educational boarding school for Quaker children.
From the record it appears he cited his religion as his motivation for seeking conscientious objector status as variously as an absolutist, a non-combatant and as an alternativist.
When he appeared before a military service tribunal in Preston on 10 October 1917 he claimed absolute exemption from military service. He was granted exemption from combatant service provided he joined the Friends Ambulance Service or engaged in other ambulance work.
He must have refused the offer, for he appeared before Preston Police Court on 8 March 1918 as an absentee. He was fined and handed over to the military and drafted into a combatant unit, the 3 Border Regiment and when he disobeyed an order was immediately court martialled at Preston on 8 March 1918.
He went absent without leave and was sentenced to 28 days in Carlisle Civil Prison by a court martial at Carlisle on 23 March 1918. At a central tribunal at Wormwood Scrubs on 12 April 1918 he refused to accept the Home Office Scheme of civilian work in a work camp, which meant his return to prison.
When released from prison, he again went AWOL and was declared a deserter. A court martial on 20 December 1918 sentenced him to nine months’ detention for desertion. He was court martialled again on 3 January 1919 and sentenced to two years with hard labour.
He was discharged on medical grounds on 2 February 1919 and discharged from the army on 17 June.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7650846
Walter Cansfield
Walter was born in 1891 and when drafted was working as a carriage painter. His address in the record is only partial: 38, Great ? Street, Preston. A military service tribunal at Preston on 27 April 1916 granted him exemption from combatant service and he joined a non-combatant corps (1 Western) at Preston on 20 May 1916.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7656894
Robert Charnley
Born in 1895, Robert lived at 2, Hammond Street and worked in the building trade. He was a Quaker and is listed as an attender at the Preston preparative monthly meetings, and the adult school and Sunday School.
He served in the Friends’ Ambulance Unit from December 1915 to March 1919: ‘French motor section SSA (Section Sanitaire Anglais, the description given to areas on the Western Front where FAU men served (hospitals, dressing stations etc.)’
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7651779
George Crowther
Born in 1889, George worked as a boot repairer and shorthand teacher. His address is given as simply Preston.
He was a Christadelphian who agreed to accept ‘Work of National Importance’ as an alternative to military service. He worked in farming and market gardening from 16 May 1917 until 5 December 1918, when he was allowed to resume his trade.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7657797
Henry Elliott
Born 1890, Henry lived at 9, Brixey Street and worked as a commercial traveller.
A military service tribunal at Preston granted him exemption from combat service and he was drafted to a Non-Combatant Corps on 1 June 1916.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7656904
David Farrington
Born 1882, David lived at 38, Great Townley Street and was employed as a cotton spinner. His religion was given as ‘None’ and ‘C of E’.
He was called up to serve with the Northumberland Fusiliers, disobeyed orders and faced a court martial at Preston on 9 August 1917. He was posted to 70 T.R.B. (Training Reserve Battalion), but was court martialled at Preston on 17 September 1917 and sentenced to two years with hard labour in Wormwood Scrubs and was there from 20 September to 10 November.
When he appeared before a central tribunal at Wormwood Scrubs on 30 October 1917, he was accepted to be a ‘genuine’ conscientious objector.
He was released to do alternative war work at Knutsford but on 23 April 1918 he was fined £4 for defrauding a railway company. Shortly after, on 13 May 1918 was ‘recalled to the colours’ and was jailed in Manchester Civil Prison, from where he was released due to illness and ‘given furlough home’.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7653847
Henry Fenton
Born 1895, Henry was employed as a clogger and living at 113, Moor Lane. He was a Quaker, a regular attender at the preparative monthly meetings in Preston and attended the society’s Adult School and Sunday School. His membership of the Quakers was given as his motivation for his conscientious objection.
He served as a mechanic in a Friends’ Ambulance Unit in France from December 1915 to February 1919.
The record mentions a court martial but the details are ambiguous and unclear.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7651798
Joseph Garstang
A great deal of information is available about Joseph. See: Joseph ‘Joe’ Garstang’s biography
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7646268
Walter Holden
No birth date given. Walter, who lived at 9, Goldfinch Street, was secretary of the Preston branch of the No-Conscription Fellowship. He was also a Baptist.
On 15 March 1917, he appeared at a military service tribunal in Ramsbottom at which he was granted exemption from combatant service only. He was court martialled on 2 May 1917when he disobeyed orders in the Non-Combatant Corps. There is no court sentence recorded but he was subsequently at the Kinmel Park army training camp in Wales, then at Park Hall camp in Oswestry, before being moved to Ormskirk on 10 December 1917.
At Ormskirk on 29 December 1917, a court martial sentenced him to two years’ hard labour at Wormwood Scrubs. A central tribunal there on 15 February 1918 found him to be a genuine conscientious objector and referred him to the Brace Committee that meant he could be eligible for civilian works in one of the work camps.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7655091
B. Ingham
No date of birth is given for Mr Ingham and his address is simply recorded as Preston. His employment is given as cotton weaver.
Mr Ingham agreed to accept compulsory civilian work instead of military service. At a court martial in Preston on 12 September 1916 he was ordered to undertake work of national importance under the Pelham scheme, and on 12 September he was ordered to work on the land or in a controlled establishment.
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7658680
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
John Johnson
Born 1880, John lived at 81, Wellford Road and worked as a tailor.
The reasons recorded under the heading ‘motivation’ are ambiguous: Agnostic/’Quaker’; Trade union – Tailors’, although under the ‘religion’ heading he is simply Quaker.
He was drafted to the 2/9 Middlesex army unit, disobeyed orders and was court martialled at Canterbury on 26 February 1917. He was sentenced to 84 days with hard labour. At his next court martial, in Canterbury on 15 May, he was given 18 months with hard labour. Another court martial in Tunbridge Wells on 5 November sentenced him to two years with hard labour in Maidstone Civil Prison.
He was given temporary release between 22 February and 22 March 1919, ‘extended to 19.4.19 under “Cat and Mouse” “will not return” see Home Office letter 19.3.19’. He was in prison for nearly two years.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7654009
Sidney Johnson
Very little information on Sidney other than that he was born in Preston and was a Quaker who attended the preparative monthly meetings in Preston. At a military service tribunal (no date) he claimed absolute exemption from any form of compulsory service, which was refused. Instead, he was granted exemption from combatant service. In May 1916 that was withdrawn.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7650364
Thomas Johnstone
Born 1876, Thomas would have been aged around forty when conscription was introduced in 1916. He lived at 77, Ribbleton Lane and worked as a draper.
Thomas was a Quaker who attended the preparative monthly meetings in Preston and was a member of peace committees.
At a military service tribunal in Preston in July 1916 he claimed absolute exemption from any form of compulsory service. He was granted exemption from military service on condition that he served in a Friends’ Ambulance Unit or with the Friends War Victims Relief. It is not known whether he served in either capacity, but the record shows that at a court martial (no date or place given) he was rejected as unfit for military service on medical grounds.
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7650543
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
William McCauley
Living at 17, Connaught Road. Court martialled and assigned to the Non-Combatant Corps at the Kinmel Park army training camp in Wales on 21 September 1916, moving to Ormskirk on 20 February 2017.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7661602
E. O. Mason
No first names, year of birth or full address in the record, which simply states that he was from Preston. He is recorded as being a sewing machine salesman.
He was assigned to work of national importance under the Pelham Committee from 18 October 1916 to 19 April 1917. He was directed to work in a ‘controlled establishment’ away from home. A medical examination put him class 3, which meant he was only fit for sedentary work. The record shows that he was only prepared to accept clerical work. When he failed to find suitable work, a central tribunal on 19 April 1917 withdrew his exemption from combatant service.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7658997
John Middlebrook
Born 1879, John lived at 223, Marsh Lane and worked as a weaver.
He was granted exemption from combatant service by a military service tribunal and was drafted to the Non-Combatant Corps serving at home from 3 March to 29 May 1916, when he was sent to France.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7656147
Thomas Parkinson
Born in 1879, Thomas lived at 69, Dallas Street and worked as a traveller and pork butcher.
A military service tribunal (no date given) granted him exemption from combatant service. A court martial in Preston on 4 September drafted him in the Non-Combatant Corps but he went absent and was arrested on 12 September and appeared at the magistrates court. He subsequently served in the Non-Combatant Corps before being transferred to the Royal Army Medical Corps.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7648769
Frederick William Parr
Born 1895, Frederick was living at Mosscroft in Lostock Hall in 1917.
Frederick was drafted into the 3/4 Loyal North Lancs and when he disobeyed orders, he was court martialled at Felixstowe on 13 April 1917. He was jailed for a year in Wormwood Scrubs, the sentence commuted to 56 days.
On 5 May 1917 he appeared before a military service tribunal at Wormwood Scrubs where he refused to agree to serve as a non-combatant. He was an atheist and this was given as his motivation for adopting an ‘absolutist’ position as a conscientious objector.
This refusal brought him another court martial on 4 June 1917, at which he was sentenced to two years with hard labour, commuted to 18 months. He had two more appearances at courts martial. The next was on 10 November 1917 when he was sentenced to two years with hard labour. It was not made clear in the record, but he was probably serving these sentences in Wormwood Scrubs.
When he next appeared in court, on 5 July 1918, he was jailed for two years with hard labour at Ipswich Civil Prison. While at Ipswich, he went on hunger strike from 5 November 1918 until 9 November, when he was force fed.
He served had served nearly two years in jail by January 1919, when presumably he was released.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7653454
H. Wentworth
No first names, year of birth or full address in the record, which simply states that he was from Preston.
Mr Wentworth was arrested on 3 November 1916 after going absent. He was drafted into a combatant unit and disobeyed orders. At his court martial in Oswestry on 7 November 1916 he was jailed for a year with hard labour at Wormwood Scrubs, commuted to nine months.
A military service tribunal at Wormwood Scrubs accepted that he was a genuine conscientious objector, he agreed to accept compulsory civilian work and was sent to the Llanddeusant Waterworks in April 1917.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7647801
Alfred Westray
Born 1886, Alfred was living at 5, Graham Street in Deepdale in 1917 and was employed as a labourer in an electric car company (an asterisk indicated there is more information in the Pearce Register, which is no longer on line). He was drafted into a combatant unit and disobeyed orders. He was court martialled at Preston on 26 September 1917 and sentenced to two years’ hard labour in Wormwood Scrubs.
He was a Spiritualist and this was given as his motivation for refusing military service. He was listed as an alternativist. A Central Tribunal hearing at Wormwood Scrubs on 8 November 1917 accepted his motivation as genuine. He was referred to the Brace Committee and he was sent to a Home Office Scheme at Knutsford on 16 November 1917.
The Pearce Register of British WW1 Conscientious Objectors
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7654782