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    An Incarcerated Conscience
    An Incarcerated Conscience
    An Incarcerated Conscience
    Ebook36 pages26 minutes

    An Incarcerated Conscience

    By Dyfed Wyn Roberts

    ()

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    About this ebook

    ‘Instead of being in the pulpit I find myself in prison.’

    These were the heartrending words of Benjamin Meyrick - the only ordained minister in Wales to be imprisoned as a conscientious objector during the Great War. Meyrick was writing to his friend and supporter, E. K. Jones, and his prison was the guard room at the military barracks in Litherland, Liverpool, during the summer of 1917.

    Meyrick had been jailed because he had been ‘absent without leave’ from the Army. As a conscientious objector he refused to enlist and as a minister of religion the expectation was that he would be legitimately excused from any military duty during the War.

    How then did the Reverend Ben Meyrick find himself jailed for two years with hard labour? Using detailed and original historical research this essay will attempt to answer that question. In addition, through the story of one man we will also glimpse the condition of the Welsh chapel movement and find how they rejected their former pacifist stance in order to support British involvement in the War, for despite the support offered to Meyrick by many, the truth is that only a small minority of Nonconformists had much sympathy with his case.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDyfed Wyn Roberts
    Release dateJul 27, 2014
    ISBN9781310178443
    An Incarcerated Conscience
    Author

    Dyfed Wyn Roberts

    Dyfed is a trained theologian and church historian from Wales, UK. He is passionate about issues of justice and peace and especially how the church can be positioned to be a world-changing presence within creation.He was trained at Bangor University, north Wales, and has a PhD degree in Welsh revival history. He blogs regularly and has plans to publish more e-books.He lives on the island of Anglesey with his wife Helen who runs the village post office. They have a springer spaniel, Ruth, who loves long walks on the local beaches.

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      Book preview

      An Incarcerated Conscience - Dyfed Wyn Roberts

      An Incarcerated Conscience

      The story of Benjamin Meyrick, the only ordained Christian minister in Wales to be imprisoned as a conscientious objector during the Great War

      Dyfed Wyn Roberts

      2014

      An Incarcerated Conscience

      The story of Benjamin Meyrick, the only ordained Christian minister in Wales to be imprisoned as a conscientious objector during the Great War

      Dyfed Wyn Roberts

      Smashwords Edition

      Copywright Dyfed Wyn Roberts 2014

      Contents

      Introduction

      Background

      Meyrick’s case

      Ordination

      Prison experiences

      The response of the Baptist denomination

      The two colleges

      The remainder of the reaction

      Closing remarks

      Introduction

      ‘Instead of being in the pulpit I find myself in prison.’ (1)

      These were the heartrending words of Benjamin Meyrick - the only ordained minister in Wales to be imprisoned as a conscientious objector during the Great War. Meyrick was writing to his friend and supporter, E. K. Jones, a Baptist minister from Cefnmawr, Wrexham, and his prison was the guard room at the military barracks in Litherland, Liverpool, during the summer of 1917.

      Meyrick had been jailed because he had been ‘absent without leave’ from the Army. As a conscientious objector he refused to enlist and as a minister of religion the expectation was that he would be legitimately excused from any military duty during the War.

      How then did the Reverend Ben Meyrick find himself jailed for two years with hard labour? This essay will attempt to answer that question. In addition, through the story of one man we will also glimpse the condition of Welsh Nonconformity and find how they rejected their former pacifist stance in order to support British involvement in the War, for despite the support offered to Meyrick by many, the truth is that only a small minority of Nonconformists had much sympathy with his case.

      As well as the conflict within Welsh chapel society we will also discover the clash between two theological college principals in the city of Bangor, north Wales. On the one hand we find Thomas Rees, the principal of the Congregationalist College (known as Bala-Bangor College) and the leader of the few remaining

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