Conscientious Objector - William Cowan Wilson

[ElishebaSmith]

Hi all,

My mother has often mentioned a Quaker relative in Scotland who was a conscientious objector and spent time at Wormwood Scrubs. My search has narrowed to my mother's great uncle, William Cowan Wilson, born 17 July 1891, Glenbuck, Ayrshire, a miner resident in the village of Glespin, Lanarkshire - and probably working in Glespin Colliery -  around the time of WW1. 

I found two newspaper references, one of which I believe relates to WCW (based on the content I don't think they can both be correct). Below is an extract from the socialist newspaper Forward (attached):

 

Wm. C. Wilson, Glespin, by Douglas, is the other C.O in this district who has been in prison for conscience sake. He served a nine months' term in Wormwood Scrubbs prison. When his term expired he was transferred to the Bridge of Allan. About three weeks ago he was again court-martialled and sentenced to another term of twelve months' hard labour. He is now in Wandsworth prison. While longing to be free, he is in the best of spirits, and is fully determined to wage the good fight to a triumphant culmination. (Forward, 26 April 1919, attached)

 

The Forward article seems the best match but there is also another article a few months later:

 

At the Justice of the Peace Court on Tuesday last - before the same Justice - Alexander Downie, miner, 9 Hyrford Street Douglas Water; Andrew Wilson, miner, 9 Douglas Place Douglas Water; and William Wilson, miner, Glespin Row, appeared on similar charges. The Wilsons had surrendered themselves to the police on the statement that they too had felt "fed up" with their rough experience in trying to evade military duty. These three were dealt with similarly.

(Hamilton Advertiser, 20 July 1919, attached)

 

This article seems to imply that Andrew and William are related and I'm not aware of an Andrew that would fit the bill in my family tree.

 

My question for the forum, is what sources might be worth trying to get more detail? I have reviewed prison records on ancestry without success. I have also searched for records relating to deserters in Fold3 and I believe I've probably exhausted the possibilities of newspaper articles on findmypast.

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

Liz

 

P.S. The other part of family lore is that when WW2 rolled around he told his son 'just go' (which he did), but that is a research task for another day!

 

Conscientious Objector - William C Wilson, Glespin by Douglas - 26 April 1919.pdf Possible reference to William Cowan Wilson 20 July 1918.pdf

[Coldstreamer]

Have you searched using both wilson and Cowan as surnames?

my line of though because I have some medals to a Matthew Wilson Cowen and I know when middle names look like surnames it can get confusing 

[alf mcm]

Liz,

  William was conscripted into the army. His service records are here;-  https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=GBM%2FWO363-4%2F007409356%2F00593&parentid=GBM%2FWO363-4%2F7409356%2F39%2F593

He was in the army from 17/07/18 until 19/06/19. These records confirm he was sent to Wormwood Scrubs.

Regards,

Alf McM

[ilkley remembers]

His record notes that he was initially convicted of an offence contrary to sect 15 of the 1882 Reserve Forces Act which I think relates to failure to register for service. A fine of £20 was imposed by a local civil court, although, I would imagine that this was only done after any dealings with local Military Tribunals had concluded.

Having enlisted into the army he then appears before a District Court Martial for disobeying a lawful order and sentenced to 9 months hard labour. Normally, at the conclusion of the sentence he would be discharged if he had served two years in the army. However, it would appear that he had served for less than a year and was therefore still subject to military discipline and a as a consequence of his refusal to submit seems to have been held again pending trial. Fortunately for him the Government decided to abandon the idea of re trying COs and he was released in June 1919.

I suppose that the civil proceedings under the 1882 Act will have been reported in local newspapers and a search of Lanarkshire newspapers may prove fruitful.

I checked this website https://menwhosaidno.org/ which has a large datbase and 3 William Wilsons are mentioned. The site is also an excellent resource for understanding the nature of conscientious objection during the war. His discharge is stated as Sect xi Para 392 Kings Regs (misconduct)

If he was a Quaker then it may be worth trying to find if records for his community still exist as the issue of compulsory military service was often discussed and votes taken about how a particular meeting house would approach the issue.

Edited 15 January , 2022 by ilkley remembers

[ss002d6252]

Yes, the 1882 Act set out the basis for what happens if you don't appear. It was amended slightly, I believe, but the original gives a flavour.

Craig

[ElishebaSmith]

Wow. That's got to be my guy. All the details match (age, location, occupation, next of kin) although it would be nice if there were a DOB to be 100% sure.

This is the second WW1 family military mystery that this forum has solved, and it is starting to take on the aura of an all-knowing oracle! Although I am beginning to wonder what is deficient in my searching that I can't turn up these records. I tried to replicate the result in find my past and couldn't - alf mcm I would love to know your search terms to see what I'm doing wrong. 

There is a lot of information in the 14 pages which I will have to slowly work through but I will definitely follow up on the suggestions regarding Lanarkshire papers and the initial civil proceedings, the men who said no website, and possible Quaker community records.

THANK YOU - you're an amazing bunch.

Actually, one more question: are any of you aware of a forum for WW2 which is just as amazing as this one?

 

[ss002d6252]

1 minute ago, ElishebaSmith said:

 

Actually, one more question: are any of you aware of a forum for WW2 which is just as amazing as this one?

The main WW2 forum is ww2talk.com- obviously not as good as us, but they can help with WW2.

Craig

[ElishebaSmith]

Thanks, Craig - I'll take a look.

[alf mcm]

15 minutes ago, ElishebaSmith said:

Wow. That's got to be my guy. All the details match (age, location, occupation, next of kin) although it would be nice if there were a DOB to be 100% sure.

This is the second WW1 family military mystery that this forum has solved, and it is starting to take on the aura of an all-knowing oracle! Although I am beginning to wonder what is deficient in my searching that I can't turn up these records. I tried to replicate the result in find my past and couldn't - alf mcm I would love to know your search terms to see what I'm doing wrong. 

There is a lot of information in the 14 pages which I will have to slowly work through but I will definitely follow up on the suggestions regarding Lanarkshire papers and the initial civil proceedings, the men who said no website, and possible Quaker community records.

THANK YOU - you're an amazing bunch.

Actually, one more question: are any of you aware of a forum for WW2 which is just as amazing as this one?

 

Hello Liz,

  Glad we got a good result.

  When I did my search on FMP I put in William and Wilson at the names section. I then put in 'Douglas' in the Location box. This gave 282 results. There were only 5 results in the 'Military, Armed forces and conflict' category. Clicked on that, and William's service records were on the list. I had guessed he had been conscripted before being sent to Wormwood Scrubs.

  You may be in this book;-  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conscientious-Objectors-First-World-War/dp/184468119X/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1Q19XLQMB6P9A&keywords=ANN+KRAMER&qid=1642247867&s=books&sprefix=ann+kramer%2Cstripbooks%2C71&sr=1-2  I found it very good.

Regards,

Alf McM

[gethine45]

On 15/01/2022 at 10:18, ilkley remembers said:

His record notes that he was initially convicted of an offence contrary to sect 15 of the 1882 Reserve Forces Act which I think relates to failure to register for service. A fine of £20 was imposed by a local civil court, although, I would imagine that this was only done after any dealings with local Military Tribunals had concluded.

Having enlisted into the army he then appears before a District Court Martial for disobeying a lawful order and sentenced to 9 months hard labour. Normally, at the conclusion of the sentence he would be discharged if he had served two years in the army. However, it would appear that he had served for less than a year and was therefore still subject to military discipline and a as a consequence of his refusal to submit seems to have been held again pending trial. Fortunately for him the Government decided to abandon the idea of re trying COs and he was released in June 1919.

I suppose that the civil proceedings under the 1882 Act will have been reported in local newspapers and a search of Lanarkshire newspapers may prove fruitful.

I checked this website https://menwhosaidno.org/ which has a large datbase and 3 William Wilsons are mentioned. The site is also an excellent resource for understanding the nature of conscientious objection during the war. His discharge is stated as Sect xi Para 392 Kings Regs (misconduct)

If he was a Quaker then it may be worth trying to find if records for his community still exist as the issue of compulsory military service was often discussed and votes taken about how a particular meeting house would approach the issue.

Slight correction - Quakers do not vote at any of their meetings. They would seek the sense of the meeting and minute a decision on that basis. Decisions about membership would have been taken by the monthly meeting not by the local meeting. Almost all meetings showed considerable sympathy to the Quakers who enlisted and also supported COs. IT is often overlooked by those interested in the military that some 30% of eligible Quaker men joined the armed forces. My research shows that some 225 were killed, and 24 men from the Friends Ambulance Unit also died.

[ilkley remembers]

3 hours ago, gethine45 said:

Slight correction - Quakers do not vote at any of their meetings.

Thank you for the clarification