Lancaster will host a free public talk by Barry Mills exploring the history of conscientious objection and the Northern Friends Peace Board during World War One next week.
The Global Link Development Education Centre has received £10,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s First World War; then and now programme to mark the First World War Centenary by researching the stories of conscientious objectors in Lancashire. These stories will be shared through a lecture series, a touring poster exhibition and a website.
The Northern Friends Peace Board was founded in 1913 after a conference of Quarterly Meetings (the then regional groupings and main administrative unit amongst Quakers in Britain) in February of that year. Today, most of the Board are appointed as representatives by Quaker Area Meetings in the North of Britain. Their purpose, from our 1913 founding meeting, is “to advise and encourage Friends, and through them their fellow citizens, in the active promotion of peace in all its height and breadth”.
Education Worker Alison Lloyd Williams said, “We are delighted to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund for this project. If anyone would like to get involved as a volunteer, researching and documenting the stories of conscientious objectors please contact info@globallink.org.uk.
“Or if you have photos, objects or memories of conscientious objectors among your family and friends, get in touch, so we can share and celebrate these stories as well.”
• Barry Mills: The History of Conscientious Objection and the Northern Friends Peace Board during World War One 7.30 pm Wednesday 12th November 2014, the Friends Meeting House, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster. Web: www.globallink.org.uk
• Northern Friends Peace Board: www.nfpb.org.uk