Friends mark centenary of Military Service Act
Plans to mark the Centenary in London and Edinburgh.
The centenary of one of the most significant moments for Quakers in the first world war is being marked next week with events at both Westminster in London and Holyrood in Edinburgh.
The Military Service Act, which introduced conscription, was passed in the House of Commons on 27 January 1916.
Many Friends worked with others to ensure that the Act contained a clause giving men the right to conscientiously object to combat service and to recognise the right to refuse to kill.
Quakers in Britain are inviting MPs, peers and ambassadors, descendants of conscientious objectors, representatives of faith groups and the charity sector to an event in the Houses of Parliament. ‘Conscientious Objection: 100 years on’ will be held between 6.00 and 8.00pm on Wednesday 27 January.
Contributors will include MPs Helen Goodman and Liz Saville Roberts, David Boulton, author of Objection Overruled, and Rachel Brett, formerly Quaker representative to the United Nations on global attitudes today to conscientious objection.
There will also be some readings from the diaries of conscientious objectors, by Geoffrey Durham, to bring alive the plight of Quakers imprisoned for their conscience. The event will be chaired by Paul Parker, recording clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting.
In Edinburgh Patrick Harvie MSP, with Quakers in Scotland and the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre, will hold a similar event on Thursday 28 January from 5.30 to 7.30pm in the Burns Room at the Scottish Parliament.
Trevor Royle, author of The Flowers of the Forest, and Edinburgh University historian Lesley Orr, will speak. There will be presentations from conscientious objectors and the families of world war one conscientious objectors.
An exhibition, which will include work on conscientious objection by students from St Thomas Aquin’s High School, Edinburgh, will also be held. The chairperson is Phil Lucas, of the Scottish Quaker Parliamentary Group.
Thought for the Day
Author Jennifer Kavanagh will present BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day on 26 January. The anniversary of the Military Service Act is on 27 January.
