TIDRIDGE WEB SITE
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Charles Edward TITHERADGE [1890-1932]-Catherine Louise ARMITAGE [1891-1975]
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TIDRIDGE WEB SITE
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Charles Edward TITHERADGE [1890-1932]-Catherine Louise ARMITAGE [1891-1975]
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Tuesday, 9 October 2018World War 1 Conscription and Conscientious Objectors ConscriptionIn August 1914 England declared war on Germany and appealed to the men of Britain to volunteer for the army. Lord Kitchener’s famous “Your Country Needs You” poster encouraged a million men to volunteer by January 1915. However, by the start of 1916 the number of men volunteering had decreased, and men were urgently needed to replace those that had been killed or injured. Until 1916 England had always had a volunteer army but volunteers could no longer supply the men needed. On 2 March 1916 conscription (compulsory active service) was introduced and all single men aged 18 to 41 were forced to join the army, unless they were in an essential home occupation, were medically unfit or were a clergyman or teacher. By May 1916 this was extended to married men and extended again in 1918 to include men aged up to 51. Conscription was unpopular and there were demonstrations against it, but despite this over 2 million men were conscripted into the army.
Conscientious Objectors
For some individuals joining an army and fighting was an abhorrent thought and it was against their beliefs to engage in war, believing life was sacred and killing someone was wrong. These individuals became known as conscientious objectors. Some of these joined the army under protest, agreeing to serve in non-combatant rolls such as stretcher bearers in the front line; others were forced to join the army and were sent to the front line in France anyway where refusing to follow an order could result in the death sentence; others were subject to court martial and imprisoned in the United Kingdom. Those that refused compulsory service were called absolutists, they were usually drafted into military service and if they refused to obey an order from an officer they were court martialled. Thousands of Conscientious Objectors were tried by court martial. To see if a member of your family was as conscientious objector go to the Imperial War Museum’s website “Lives of the First World War” where you can search a database of over 17,000 conscientious objectors.
It was while “remembering” family members on this website that I came across the name “Charles Edward Titheradge”, listed as a conscientious objector. I had previously seen some of his military records, so I knew that he was imprisoned in Winchester for refusing to obey an order and that he had no medal card, but had not realised the significance of the information.
Charles Edward Titheradge 1890 – 1932Armed with this new information I wanted to find out more about Charles, an individual who held such strong beliefs that war was wrong that he was willing to endure the very harsh treatment given to conscientious objectors rather than go against his principles and beliefs.
Charles Edward Titheradge was the son of James Henry Titheradge and Alice Butterworth and the grandson of Lewish George Titheradge. He was born on 29 May 1890 in the Pancras district of London. Charles had two younger brothers, Percival born 1896 and Walter born 1898. I believe both brothers joined the Essex Regiment in 1916.
On the 1901 census Charles was living with his parents and two brothers at 60 Arlington Gardens, St Pancras, London. By the 1911 census the family had move out of central London and were living at 55 Brookdale Road, Walthamstow Essex. On the census Charles is shown as a decorative draughtsman.
On 2 April 1916 Charles married Catherine Louisa Armitage at the parish church in Walthamstow. Their address was 106 Leucha Road, Walthamstow.
Charles Titheradge – the war yearsWhen conscription began in 1916 Charles would have been among those who were called up. Men could apply to local Military Service Tribunals for exemption from conscription, but not many appeals were upheld. Unfortunately, the records for most of these tribunals were destroyed after the war by the order of the government. We know Charles was a member of the “No Conscription Fellowship”, NCF, an organisation to support those who objected to taking up arms. We can assume Charles was a pacifist who believed it wrong to kill another human, but whether this was a religious or moral stand is unknown. His appeal to the Military Tribunal was unsuccessful, and therefore he was called for military service.
Charles refused to comply with conscription and consequently was arrested on 25 May 1916. He appeared at the Magistrates Court and as an absentee (one who had refused to arrive at the army) he was handed over to the army. He was enrolled in the Rifle Brigade on 29 May 1916 service number 19675. His service papers have the words “enrolment Record” crossed out and replaced with “Record of service” and the words “fitness of service on enrolment” changed to “fitness of service on joining”. Charles would not sign the enrolment form. He refused to obey the order of a senior officer for which he was court martialled. His military records show he was convicted by the civil power of “Absentee Military Service Act” on 29 May. On 30 May 1916 he was convicted by District Court Martial, the charge being that when on active service disobeying a lawful command given by his superior officer. He was sentenced to one year Imprisonment with Hard Labour.
On 14 June 1916 Charles was sent to the Civil Prison in Winchester. Life was tough for conscientious objectors in prison, and 69 conscientious objectors died in prison. Hard labour was the most severe sentence the courts could issue. The prisoners were put in solitary confinement for the first month and were not allowed to communicate with anyone. They were let out for half an hour exercise a day, but no communication was allowed. Charles’s records show that he spent nearly 3 months in prison in Winchester.
The records for 5 September 1916 reads “Transferred to Class W Army Reserve, Army orders 203-1916”. Class W reserve was used as a means of getting thousands of Conscientious Objectors out of prison and into useful civil employment. Charles became part of the home office scheme administered by the Brace committee which sent 250 conscientious objectors from prisons to Dyce Camp in Aberdeen at a quarry. The men were still in the army but had been released on condition they performed work of national importance – in this case breaking up granite to produce stones for roads. Most of these men were not use to physical labour and the work was tough. They were put up in a tented camp in poor conditions made worse by the weather. After the death of one of the prisoners the camp was closed down in October 1916. It is not clear what happened to Charles at this time whether he went back to prison or sent to work somewhere else.
The next entry in his records shows that on 23 November 1917 he was discharged from the army as no longer fit for service due to a condition Otitis Media which affects the middle ear. The doctors thought this was the result of a childhood illness. His total service was 1 year 179 days. It is noted in his records that his pension entitlement was disallowed for misconduct and that he had no medal entitlement. On discharge his address was to be 48 Bunyan Road, Walthamstow and his intended employment a decorator of furniture / cabinetmaker.
Charles Titheradge – after the warLife was probably hard for Charles after his release from the army. The war time prejudice against conscientious objectors continued for many years after the war. Conscientious Objectors were nick name “conchies”. There was a stigma attached to being a conscientious objector - people regarded them as cowards and their families often suffered abuse as well as the men. The men were often despised for their views. These attitudes continued for many years after the war e.g. some job advertisements said no conscientious objectors should apply.
Charles continued to live in the London area until 1932 when he died on 8 August 1932, aged just 42 at 88 Ainslie Wood Gardens, Chingford, Essex. He was buried at Chingford Mount Cemetery on Saturday 13th August 1932. Probate records show he left £695 to his widow Catherine. Catherine and Charles had no children.
Catherine married again in December 1937 in Essex to Frederick C Conyard and lived until 1975, she died aged 84 in Southend-on-sea.
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My Hampshire Genealogical Society No. 2804.
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John Tidridge
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