John Rose Battley, JP

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

(26 November 1880 – 1 November 1952) was a British printer, company director and Labour Party politician. He served on the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

and was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

for a single five-year term. He was a notable

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

and

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

Early life

John Rose Battley was born on 26 November 1880 to George Battley, a labourer who later opened a grocer's shop, and his wife Adah Elizabeth (née Maderson), a seamstress. His mother died in 1887, according to Battley "due to working as a sempstress at her treadle sewing machine night after night into the early hours of the morning in order to help my father, who was a casual labourer, to provide their children with a fair share of bread and dripping for breakfast and tea, and boiled rice for dinner." Battley attended the Basnett Road Elementary School, leaving aged 13 to become a printer's apprentice. He found this experience quite distressing, describing the "mischief done to my mind and soul as a lad" but later set up his own printing firm with his brother George in 1905. At a time when a week's paid holiday was standard in the printing trade, Battley Brothers offered a fortnight. In addition, they offered their employees a Sick & Funeral Fund, Endowment Fund, Hospital Savings Association, Study Circle, Staff Samaritans Fund, the firm's sports teams, pay higher than the trade union standard, Christmas boxes, a silver spoon for every baby born to an employee, as well as contributing half the cost of employees' overalls and their laundering.

Conscientious Objector

Battley became a

during the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

. In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Battley's

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

beliefs and membership of the

Fellowship of Reconciliation The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR or FOR) is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries. They are linked by affiliation to the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). ...

bade him to declare his

conscientious objection A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to objecti ...

. The

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

Military Service Tribunal Military Service Tribunals were bodies formed by borough, urban district and rural district councils to hear applications for exemption from conscription into the British Army during the First World War. Although not strictly recruiting bodies, ...

granted him exemption only from combatant

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...

; he appealed to the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

county appeal tribunal, and was granted exemption from all military service conditional upon working as a market gardener. In May 1916 he was made to dig cauliflowers in a Twickenham market garden as part of his conditional exemption. In a letter, he said; "When I tell you there are nearly 15,000 plants in cloches of 4, you can imagine my task... My arms and hands have swollen to twice their usual size and have given me ceaseless pain. My feet have been blistered (the nails on my toes turning black with pain) but I'm out to show, as I know you are, that a CO is no shirker if he is an idealist."

Municipal contribution

He was also a member of the Labour Party and in 1934 he was one of the Labour candidates for

Wandsworth Borough Council Wandsworth London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Wandsworth in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Wandsworth is divided into 20 wards, eac ...

in the Clapham North ward; he lost narrowly. He then fought the

division in the 1937

election; while unsuccessful that time, he was elected for the division by 57 votes in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in May 1938. He was made a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for the County of London in 1940.

Parliament

At the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgaria ...

, Battley won the

Parliamentary seat, which had the same boundaries as his LCC division. He was a Parliamentary supporter of

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

, and opposed a government amendment to allow

civic restaurant British Restaurants were communal kitchens created in 1940 during the Second World War to help people who had been bombed out of their homes, had run out of ration coupons or otherwise needed help. In 1943, 2,160 British Restaurants served 600,0 ...

s (former 'British restaurants' run by local authorities) to sell alcoholic liquor. He also opposed the

National Service Act 1948 The National Service Act 1948 was an Act of Parliament which extended the British conscription of the Second World War long after the war-time need for it had expired, in the form of "National Service". After a bill with the same purpose had b ...

, which continued

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

for at least a further five years. Battley never made a speech in Parliament, although he did speak in the chamber on a few occasions to ask questions of Ministers.

Retirement

Although he had been elected only three years previously, Battley announced in June 1948 that he would stand down at the next

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

to make way for a younger man or woman. He therefore did not contest the 1950 general election, and died two years later, after a long illness.

Family

In 1933 he married Sybill Allchurch, and they had two sons: Bernard and actor

David Battley David John Battley (5 November 1935 – 20 January 2003) was a British actor of stage and screen, mainly appearing in comedy roles. Early life Battley was born at Battersea, London, the elder son of John Battley, a post-Second World War Labour ...

References

External links

*M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" Vol. IV (Harvester Press, 1981)
Battley's entry in ''Dictionary of Labour Biography''
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Battley, John Rose 1880 births 1952 deaths British conscientious objectors Members of London County Council Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1945–1950