Locals commemorate North London’s Anti-War past

The Haringey First World War Peace Forum (HFWWPF) commemorated North London’s anti-war history with a walk was presented by local historian and author John Hinshelwood.

The Haringey First World War Peace Forum (HFWWPF) commemorated North London’s anti-war history with a walk.The walk, which began in Finsbury Park and ended on Harringay Green Lanes was presented by local historian and author John Hinshelwood. The activity was arranged as part of the Being Human Festival, an eight-day event led by the University of London’s School of Advanced Study, the British Academy and the Arts & Humanities Research Council.

Walkers visited important early twentieth-century protest sites. Among these were the Finsbury Park Meeting Ground used by Suffragettes, Trade Unionists and anti-conscription groups as well as the space outside Harringay’s Salisbury Hotel which hosted anti-war meetings in 1914 and 1916 during World War One.

The event’s main focus was the large number of conscientious objectors (COs) related to the Haringey area. Conscientious objectors were men who objected to joining the armed forces on grounds of conscience after conscription was introduced by the British Government in 1916.

Military service became compulsory for single men in England, Wales and Scotland aged 18-41 and was expanded to married men and those aged up to 50.  Exceptions could be made for those whose jobs were important to the war effort, who were sole supporters of dependents, medically unfit or able to prove a conscientious objection. COs were regularly derided as “cowards” and have historically received a bad press.

The total number of recorded COs in Britain was around 16,000 and about 350 of these were associated with Haringey – one of the highest numbers in England.

HFWWPF walkers visited the houses of local COs linked to the borough who objected  to conscription for moral, political and religious reasons. Some suffered prison and hard labour for their principles while others were exempt from combatant military roles but were required to perform other tasks such as providing ambulance services to injured soldiers in the battlefields.  The 350 men’s stories are now being told after detailed research in the Haringey area and will be commemorated with a plaque outside the Salisbury Hotel funded with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund won by the HFWWPF.

If you want to know more about the HFWWPF and local conscientious objectors please visit hfwwpf.wordpress.com and www.conscientiousobjectionremembered.wordpress.com.