About John 'Bert' Brocklesby
John Hubert (“Bert”) Brocklesby was born and grew up in Conisbrough, near Doncaster in Yorkshire. Brought up as Methodist, Bert had been drawn to both Quakers and Baptists, but had remained with the Wesleyan Methodist Church and become a lay preacher, only later becoming a Quaker.
As an eleven-year-old during the Boer War, he was confused when he realised that both sides were praying for victory to the same God. Bert was 25 when the war broke out.
First loyalty
A week after his bruising experience in Conisbrough, Bert found himself preaching in another church. He took a more cautious approach, but delivered the same message. He later wrote about the experience.
A week later I was appointed to preach at the Swinton Wesleyan Methodist Church. I knew now that those matters which I had thought to be self-evident were violently controversial; yet I felt that I must proclaim the Gospel of Peace.
In the middle of my sermon I paused to offer apology for the controversial nature of my subject. A man in the congregation called out, "Go on, brother, we hear plenty on the other side.”
This was my last appearance there for many years, yet I knew I had a little band of warm supporters there.
It was one of my first big shocks to find that Gipsy Smith, J.E. Rattenbury, Josiah Mee and Captain Davis, all ardent evangelists, became ardent recruiters for what I could only regard as the Devil's work. I was horrified that the pulpits of Methodist churches should become recruiting platforms.
Now did I begin to have my first serious doubts about the theology that would allow its exponents to invite men to undertake mass murder, with that same persuasive eloquence that they had used to bring men to Christ. This looks awfully like the sin against the Holy Spirit. God only knows. But this we learned later, that as evangelists their day had passed. They had scattered the sacred embers, and never again could they revive the old fires.
I went to the Superintendent Minister, Nicholas J. Willis, to ask for his opinion and support in this controversy. He said, "As there is a division of opinion in the church on this matter, I prefer to take neither side."
I wept to think that on such a vital question the leading minister had no lead to give. But more mature consideration has convinced me that he was only at the same point as William Wilson, that if obeying the Gospel were to endanger the unity of the Methodist Church, then Methodism must have first loyalty; after all, was not his stipend paid by the Methodist Church?
And was it not again the same dilemma when big Booth, ex-Methodist of the Burcroft Sawmill, accosted me in Low Road?
"When are you going to join up?"
"I am not going to join up."
"Why not?"
"War is against the commandments.”
"Oh, bugger the commandments!"
This surprising comment left me almost without answer (perhaps the aim of an emphatic swear word) but I said "You may, but I don't”. When I told Father of this incident, he was very amused. "You should have told him," said he, "He may bugger the commandments, but some day the commandments will bugger him."
Bert is harsh on the Methodist Church. Other Methodists opposed the war, and some wrestled with their consciences before reaching different conclusions. Nonetheless, Bert was clearly upset by people who appeared to give their first loyalty to the unity of a religious organisation rather than the theology underpinning it.
What's the right balance between commitment to personal convictions and working for unity with those who disagree? Is it right to remain neutral for the sake of unity?
This is an edited extract from Escape from Paganism, the unpublished memoirs of John 'Bert' Brocklesby. Used by kind permission of his daughter, Mary Brocklesby.
Bert's brother Philip visited him shortly before his sentence was confirmed. Bert describes what happened after the sentence was read out.
On arrival at Boulogne, Bert and his comrades from Richmond Castle discovered that another group of conscientious objectors had also been sent to France with the threat of being shot if they continued to refuse orders. They did not know whether the other group – which included Howard Marten – had given in or been executed.
Bert was concerned that campaigners in Britain should hear about what was going on and know that they were in Boulogne. He described what happened next.
Bert was sent to Richmond Castle where a unit of the Non-Combatant Corps was based. Within a few days he was on his way to France.
facing arrest for refusing to join the Non-Combatant Corps, Bert handed himself into the police station.
Bert Brocklesby was called before a tribunal in Doncaster when he claimed a conscientious objection to joining the army. He wrote out a transcript of the hearing.
Bert seems to have preached less often as he became more involved in campaigning against the war. He described how he came to know Quakers through the anti-conscription campaign.
The war that began in 1914 was expected to be over by Christmas. John ‘Bert’ Brocklesby found himself preaching in his own church just after the beginning of 2015. He wrote about the response he received.
To Bert, war required either hatred or callousness. Writing about the early days of the war, he linked his convictions with a rejection of hatred – and a question about prayer during wartime.
How did Bert come to be such a strong pacifist? Unlike Howard, he did not grow up in a pacifist family. His brothers Philip and Harold joined the army shortly after war broke out.
The beginning of war saw thousands of men rush to enlist. Those who chose not to do so faced criticism.
In the summer of 1914, the prospect of war felt far away to Bert Brocklesby, a teacher in the Yorkshire town of Conisbrough near Doncaster.
Related Materials
Bert was one of many Christians to be shocked and angry about the willingness of most church leaders to back the war.
Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy was an Anglican army chaplain on the front line from 1915. Initially a supporter of the war, he became increasingly anti-war as the war progressed. He describes a key moment in his change of heart, when he was 33.
Your Thoughts
Did John Brocklesby become a
Hi Chris,