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. Sometimes such as clergy or ministers acted as witnesses to affirm this.

Still, many cases do not mention religion; this does not mean that the C.O 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 can not confirm that in any particular case. Many also state they are Christian without naming a religion; many of these are likely to have been Anglicans, but again we cannot confirm that. The largest single Christian denomination represented is "Quaker", with significant representation from Methodists, Christian Scientists, Anglicans, Brethren, Christadelphians, Baptists, and Jehovah's Witnesses.

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