Religious motivation data

Many of the conscientious objectors identified in this database are explicitly religious in their motivation, and tribunals may have recognised them as such. On occasion, clergy or ministers acted as witnesses to affirm this.

Even so, many records do not mention religion. This does not mean that the CO was not religious, only that they were not recorded as such in the newspaper source we accessed.

Some also state "religious" without naming a particular faith group. This may well imply Christianity given the norms of the time in Britain, but we cannot confirm this in any particular case. Many records also state that the CO is Christian without naming a denomination. Many of these are likely to have been Anglicans, but again we cannot confirm this. The largest single Christian denomination represented are the Quakers, with significant representation from Jehovah's Witnesses, Methodists, Christian Scientists, Anglicans, Brethren, Christadelphians and Baptists.

There are several non-Christian faith groups represented, including Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Spiritualist. A minority of COs also explicitly eschewed religion.