Staffordshire appeals against conscription in WW1 set to be revealed

Stories of a conscientious objector and baker deemed essential to food provision are just two included in a rare collection of appeal tribunals against conscription in WW1 set to be revealed through a new project. All military appeal tribunal records across the country were ordered to be destroyed after the war – but an oversight meant those in Staffordshire survived. Now, the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service will be opening up access to the records.

The service has received £37,600 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to start the project in September. Staffordshire Appeals: Opening access to Staffordshire’s Great War Local Military and Appeal Tribunals will be looking for volunteers in the autumn to help go through the fascinating collection of over 20,000 records. Around 15,000 will be made freely accessible online.

Staffordshire County Council’s communities leader Mike Lawrence said: “This is a unique project as we have a rare collection of WW1 records here in Staffordshire which provide an invaluable insight into communities at that time and the working and private lives of those called up to service. In almost every other area of the country military appeal tribunal records were destroyed after the war and so this collection will be of great interest both here and nationally.

“2016 is the centenary of the introduction of conscription during WW1 and so we are pleased to make this collection accessible at this time. Thanks to the backing of the Heritage Lottery Fund and a team of volunteers this project will index over 20,000 individual entries and put over 15,000 online.”

Reyahn King, head of Heritage Lottery Fund West Midlands, said: “These rare archives detail individual appeals against being conscripted into the forces giving us a better idea of the impact of conscription on people’s lives and their reactions. The project will provide access to a valuable source of information about local men, their families, work and home lives as the First World War was underway.”

Follow this link for the BBC Midlands Today news item on the project:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-28758191