International Conscientious Objectors Day: Professor Lois Bibbings speaks at ceremony in London

Press release issued: 16 May 2019

The Law School’s Professor Lois Bibbings was a guest speaker at the ceremony of remembrance for conscientious objectors to military service in London yesterday, International Conscientious Objectors Day.

The First World War Peace Forum ceremony took place in Tavistock Square, in front of the Conscientious Objector Stone, where it has been held since 1998; both the stone and the ceremony remember 'all those who established and maintain the right to refuse to kill'.

Professor Bibbings spoke about First World War conscientious objectors - in particular, the centenary of the release of absolutist objectors (the extremists of peace who refused to assist the war in any way) from prison and linking their stories to the present day.

Commenting on the occasion, Professor Bibbings said: “This is a huge honour - and a personally significant event for me. I attend the remembrance ceremony most years and lay a white flower for my father Graham, a conscientious objector to National Service in the late 1940s. He held First World War objectors in high regard and was assisted by one in preparing his case for exemption - which was heard in Bristol, not so very far from the Law School.”

To mark the 100-year anniversary of the release from prison of absolutist conscientious objectors, a national festival exploring the hidden stories of the First World War has been taking place in Bristol with free events and exhibitions running throughout April and May.

Entitled 'Commemoration, Conflict & Conscience’, the festival is organised by Professor Bibbings, working with colleagues at the University of Hertfordshire and Bristol history group Remembering the Real WW1.

One of the exhibitions currently on display in Bristol is 'The Art & Nature of Conscience' curated by Professor Bibbings. Held in Bristol Cathedral, it focuses on texts and artwork by and about World War One conscientious objectors, encouraging the visitor to think about the meaning of conscience. The exhibition includes rare images from the autograph albums which some objectors kept as well as works by contemporary artists which reference or respond to the words and actions of World War One conscientious objectors. The other exhibition, ‘The Lost Files’, is in the crypt of St John on the Wall.

The festival is overseen by the Everyday Lives in War project at the University of Hertfordshire and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). It is also supported by University of Bristol funding. Bristol's Remembering the Real WW1 group has been a key part of organising the festival. For details see the project website.

Further information

Professor Lois Bibbings is Professor of Law, Gender and History at the University of Bristol Law School and researches war resistance, conscientious objection to military service and the Shot at Dawn campaign, which saw the Government formally pardon over 300 soldiers who were shot at dawn by the British for cowardice or desertion during World War One.