Allan Burnett (12 January 1925 in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

– 10 October 2007 in New Zealand) was a Scottish

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

activist. He was a member of the Glasgow Anarchist Federation in his youth. When, in 1943, he resisted conscription to the British forces during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was sent to Glasgow's Barlinnie Prison and later to Slateford Prison,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

as one of 61.000 British conscientious objectors. At his trial at

Glasgow Sheriff Court Glasgow Sheriff Court is a sheriff court in the Gorbals ( Laurieston) area of Glasgow, within the sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin. It is reputedly the busiest court in Europe. History The new court was commissioned to replace the Old Sh ...

he said that “I refuse to be pitchforked or led into slaughter, like so much human manure, or to be duped into the lunatic butchery of my comrades and fellow workers of other geographical spheres who are like-wise enslaved in a system of organized misery imposed on them by their respective ruling classes.” After his prison sentence he moved to London and spent time in a number of communes. He also travelled to France and Italy. Shortly after his marriage, he moved to New Zealand where he lived for the rest of his life, never returning to Scotland.

New Zealand

Prior to moving to New Zealand Burnett worked as a shipwright and insurance clerk. In New Zealand he initially worked as a shipping clerk and a bank officer before running his own business in the building trade. In the 1970s he was employed by

Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1871 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elected b ...

as a housing inspector. He was active in the Worker's Educational Association and held the association's public speaking trophy in the mid 1970s. Throughout his life he wrote poetry, the subjects of which ranged from politics, in particular his

libertarianism Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

, to his love of the outdoors. He died on 10 October 2007. Allan Burnett's writing remains unpublished. Some of his work, letters to friends and family, photos, poems and other documents pertaining to his life are archived by the

Spirit of Revolt Archive The Spirit of Revolt Archive, based in Glasgow (Scotland), is dedicated to collecting, managing and preserving multi-media records from Glasgow’s and Clydeside’s anarchist and libertarian-socialist movement. It is a ‘community archive’, l ...

, Glasgow.

References

External links

Allan Burnett Collection finding aid
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett, Allan 1925 births 2007 deaths Anarchist writers New Zealand anarchists Scottish anarchists Scottish emigrants to New Zealand Scottish libertarians Scottish male poets