The No-Conscription Fellowship was a British pacifist organization which was founded in London by

Fenner Brockway Archibald Fenner Brockway, Baron Brockway (1 November 1888 – 28 April 1988) was a British socialist politician, humanist campaigner and anti-war activist. Early life and career Brockway was born to W. G. Brockway and Frances Elizabeth Abbey in ...

and

Clifford Allen Clifford Robertson Allen (January 6, 1912 – June 18, 1978) was a Tennessee attorney and Democratic politician. Early life and career Allen was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and graduated from Friends High School (now Sidwell Friends) in ...

on 27 November 1914, after 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 ...

had failed to reach an early conclusion. Other prominent supporters included John Clifford, Bruce Glasier,

Hope Squire Evelyn Hope Squire Merrick (1878–1936) was a British composer, pianist, and political activist who supported women's suffrage, vegetarianism, Esperanto, and new music. She opposed England’s participation in World War I. She published and per ...

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

Robert Smillie Robert Smillie (17 March 1857 – 16 February 1940) was a Scottish trade unionist and Labour Party politician. He was a leader of the coal miners, and played a central role in moving support from the miners away from the Liberal Party to the L ...

and

Philip Snowden Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, PC (; 18 July 1864 – 15 May 1937) was a British politician. A strong speaker, he became popular in trade union circles for his denunciation of capitalism as unethical and his promise of a socialist utop ...

Background

A focus of the campaign was the Military Service Act which introduced conscription in 1916. Branches were established across the country, leaflets were produced and deputations sent to lobby Parliament. They were successful in getting provision for conscientious objectors in the bill, but opposed the establishment of the army's

Non-Combatant Corps The Non-Combatant Corps (NCC) was a corps of the British Army composed of conscientious objectors as privates, with NCOs and officers seconded from other corps or regiments. Its members fulfilled various non-combatant roles in the army during the ...

History

The founders and other members were jailed for their opposition to conscription. Bertrand Russell took over from

as the chairman of the organisation while Catherine Marshall took over from Fenner Brockway as secretary. Marshall was in love with Clifford Allen and, when he was suffering from the effects of imprisonment, she drove herself to the point of exhaustion and Lilla Brockway then resumed the role of secretary in 1917, as she had been provisional secretary in 1916. The National Committee in 1916 was A. Barratt Brown, Alfred Salter, Aylmer Rose,

, C.H. Norman, Catherine Marshall,

, Edward Grubb,

, John P. Fletcher, Morgan Jones, Rev. Leyton Richards, Will Chamberlain. The Scottish organisation was led by

Marjory Newbold Marjory Newbold (25 May 1883 – 15 November 1926) was a leading Scottish socialist and communist, prominent in the Independent Labour Party and in the 'Red Clydeside' movement demanding reforms for the working class. Newbold organised pacifist ...

, whose husband

Walton Walton may refer to: People * Walton (given name) * Walton (surname) * Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer Places Canada * Walton, Nova Scotia, a community ** Walton River (Nova Scotia) *Walton, Ontario, a hamlet United Kingdo ...

became a Communist MP. Branches were established across the country and the first national convention was held on 27 November 1915 at the

Congregational Memorial Hall The Congregational Memorial Hall in Farringdon Street, London was built to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Great Ejection of Black Bartholomew's Day, resulting from the 1662 Act of Uniformity which restored the Anglican church. The two tho ...

. The second convention was held the following year on 8 April at Devonshire House — a Quaker meeting place in Bishopsgate. Beatrice Webb, who was pro-war, recorded the occasion in her diary, From March 1916 the NCF published ''The Tribunal''. In an effort to suppress this publication, the police raided the National Labour Press and dismantled the printing press. However the NCF had a secret press and were able to continue publishing. Historian Thomas Kennedy says that during the last two years of the war, the NCF remained a:Thomas C. Kennedy, "No-Conscription Fellowship" in Fred M. Leventhal, ed., ''Twentieth-century Britain: an encyclopedia'' (Garland, 1995) pp 571-72. :minor but troublesome irritant to the authorities, using its surprisingly resilient propaganda machinery to expose brutal or illegal treatment of conscientious objectors as well as to agitate, especially among the industrial working classes, an end to the conflict.

Background

History

See also

References

Further reading