A First World War Conscientious Objector from Lewis
Court-martialled on 11th July 1916
This blog has already looked at the cost to the Isle of Lewis of the First World War, and also at the situation of Conscientious Objectors (COs) to that conflict, in Britain generally and the London Borough of Ealing more particularly. Up until recently it has looked as though there were few if any Leodhasachs who took the courageous and perilous path of conscientious objection when conscription was introduced in early 1916, although there were many who applied for exemption on other grounds, particularly connected with their occupations: the hardship that would ensue if they were prevented from continuing their normal working lives, and/or the importance of those lives in the national context (e.g. food supply). It is with such cases that the Appeal Tribunal records from Lewis, among the few sets fortuitously to have survived, are mostly concerned. Not all applicants for exemption would have chosen or been allowed to take their cases to appeal if refused at the first hearing.
One young man, however, who was recognised as a "Class: A - Genuine" CO was Donald McLennan (MacLennan), a 20-year-old student from Balallan in the Lochs district. His is one of the only four records that come up on searching for "Stornoway" or "Isle of Lewis" on the nearly 17,500-strong Pearce Register, available via the IWM Lives of the First World War. (This does not necessarily mean there were no others; research on the subject is still on-going, with new names being discovered all the time).
What happened to Donald according to the record is as follows:
- Conscripted into the NCC (Non-Combatant Corps) Fort George;
- NCC (Non-Combatant Corps) (2 Scottish) Hamilton CM (Court Martial) 11.7.16 [This was routine for COs who refused to obey a military order]
- Sentence to 6 months HL (with hard labour), commuted to50 days in Barlinnie CP (Civil Prison)
- Prison Barlinnie CP (Civil Prison) 13.7.16 - 'Liberated by Military Authorities 26.7.16'
- HOS (The Home Office Scheme, administered by the Brace Committee) Transfer to Army Reserve Class W 16.3.17
His case came before the MST (Military Service Tribunal) Central Tribunal which was set up at the end of July at Wormwood Scrubs prison in London as part of the evolving policy for dealing with COs nationally. The Central Tribunal found him to be a 'Class: A - Genuine' CO, suitable for referring to the Brace Committee administering the Home Office Scheme under which COs were sent to work camps.
Maclennan Donald — — 1914-20 First World War Great Britain RNR
Maclennan Donald — — 1914-20 First World War Great Britain RNR
First name(s) Donald
Last name McLennan
Marital status Single
Occupation Student
Age 20
Birth year 1896
Year 1916
Address Balallan
Address 2 Stornoway, Isle of Lewis
Local authority Stornoway Burgh
County Ross and Cromarty
Country Scotland
Latitude 58.2
Longitude -6.39
Ordnance Survey reference NB420320
Service number ??
Motivation -
Military Service Tribunal MST (Military Service Tribunal) Central Tribunal at Wormwood S. 4.9.16 - CO class A, to Brace Committee
Central Tribunal Central Tribunal Nos. W. 1128 Class: A - Genuine
War Service NCC (Non-Combatant Corps) Fort George; NCC (Non-Combatant Corps) (2 Scottish) Hamilton CM (Court Martial) 11.7.16 - 6 months HL (With hard labour) com.50 days Barlinnie CP (Civil Prison)
Prison Barlinnie CP (Civil Prison) 13.7.16 - 'Liberated by Military Authorities 26.7.16'
Work Centre HOS (The Home Office Scheme, administered by the Brace Committee) Transfer to Army Reserve Class W 16.3.17
WO363 true
Sources NA/WO363/M852 - incomplete file; NA/WO86/70/197; NAS/HH31/29/1 - COs in Scottish Prisons July 1916; NAS/HH31/29/6 - Central Appeal Tribunal 1.9.16; NAS/HH21/70/54 Barlinnie CP (Civil Prison) 1916; NA/MH47/1 Central Tribunal Minutes
Record set ConscientiousObjectors' Register 1914-1918
https://search.livesofthefirstworldwar.org/search/world-records/conscientious-objectors-register-1914-1918
Above: Transcription from the Pearce Register
 |
| 1911 Census record for MacLennan family at 5, Balallan |
Mary MacLennan Wife Married Female ?54 1855 Weavers Wife
[3 older daughters have left home]
Patrick Peter MacLennan Son - Male 22 1889 working on Croft
Donald John MacLennan Son - Male 16 1895 School
Donald John MacLennan Son - Male 16 1895 School
Donald MacLennan Son - Male 14 1897 -
Margaret Maggie MacLennan Daughter Female 13 1898 - School
Catherine Kate MacLennan Daughter - Female 10 1901 - School
Ann MacKay Sister-in-law [5 Balallan 1901] 52 Servant (Domestic) at no.5 in 1901All are listed as having been born in Lochs, Ross & Cromarty, Scotland.
Donald John b.1895 would have been 21 in 1916 and is therefore the more likely to have been the CO, rather than his younger brother Donald. (It was not unusual, of course, for siblings to share a first given name; they would be called after different people and would be known by different forms of the name, initials or nicknames.)
 |
| 1901 Census record for MacLennan family at 5a, Balallan |
1901
John MacLennan Head Married Male 44 1857 Weaver
Mary MacLennan Wife Married Female 46 1855 Weavers Wife
Patrick MacLennan Son - Male 12 1889 Scholar
Iabella MacLennan Daughter - Female 11 1890 Scholar
Johana MacLennan Daughter - Female 10 1891 Scholar
Mary Ann MacLennan Daughter - Female 8 1893 Scholar
Donald John MacLennan Son - Male 6 1895 Scholar
Donald MacLennan Son - Male 4 1897
Margaret MacLennan Daughter - Female 3 1898
Catherine MacLennan Daughter - Female 0 1901
Postscript
The tragic story of Malcolm Martin is not included with the above, since his appeal was made on the grounds not of conscientious objection but on the basis of his having made his life elsewhere and not having been "ordinarily resident" in Britain at the relevant time for conscription. This was not allowed. He survived the hostilities but was drowned on the Iolaire.
Like Donald Maclennan, Malcolm Martin was from Balallan (a place with a certain tradition of dissidence and activism - well within living memory in 1916), so it is is quite probable that they knew each other.
The other three known COs from Lewis in the First World War were:
- Donald Morrison, a Divinity student, 22, from Garrabost
- Charles Record, 24, a Science teacher in Stornoway
- Murdo MacLeod, 29, a fisherman and crofter from Cromore.
Postscript
The tragic story of Malcolm Martin is not included with the above, since his appeal was made on the grounds not of conscientious objection but on the basis of his having made his life elsewhere and not having been "ordinarily resident" in Britain at the relevant time for conscription. This was not allowed. He survived the hostilities but was drowned on the Iolaire.
Malcolm Martin, SC33/62/1/34 p2
“The appellant is a shepherd who came to Lewis on a visit
shortly before the outbreak of the present war. He was not therefore
‘ordinarily resident’ in Great Britain on August 15 last and the Military
Service Act does not apply to him. Further, he was engaged in his occupation as
a Shepherd at Punta Arenas, South America and when making said visit to Lewis
his intention was and is to return to Punta Arenas where he has a troop of
horses and other property – all his property and interests are situated there
and Some are now requiring Appellants personal attention”.
As he was not ordinarily resident and his business
remained in Argentina, Malcolm applied for absolute exemption on grounds of
serious hardship. His appeal was refused on 31 March 1916 “in respect that
applicant doesn’t come within the exceptions specified in the first schedule to
the Military Service Act 1916”. - from Case Studies on Scotland's People.
Like Donald Maclennan, Malcolm Martin was from Balallan (a place with a certain tradition of dissidence and activism - well within living memory in 1916), so it is is quite probable that they knew each other.
********************
Not all of one mind...
From:-
MY MOTTO
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori
But not being patriotic, I’m afraid I don’t agree.
For if I had a motto I am sure that it would be
Melius et dulcius est – semper ludere.
 |
| (Latin: melius = better; dulcius = sweeter; semper = always; ludere = to play) |
On the other hand:-
From
From
Mind you, in their way, the COs may be said to have had something of the same spirit.
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