To mark the First World War Centenary the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded £8,500 to the North Yorkshire County Record Office to make the North Riding Appeal Tribunal paperss widely available through a searchable online database and social media.

The Grounds for Appeal project will regularly share information on cases from the appeal papers.

The Case of Percy Carr:  Mechanical draughtsman for Messrs Rowntree & Co, Cocoa Manufacturers of York 

February 1916:  Percy Carr was granted exemption by the local tribunal in York.  They stated that as a Mechanical Draftsman he was engaged in a reserved occupation.  In March 1916 the Military Representative, Major Herbert, appealed against this decision stating: ‘The manufacture of cocoa and chocolate is not of national importance.’

Central Tribunal and the Ministry of Munitions were consulted and they agreed with the Major Herbert.  However, in 1916 the job of Engineering Draughtsman was listed as a certified occupation as they were needed in munitions work.

In tha case papers of Percy Carr is a letter from the Ministry of Munitions which states: ‘the Department would feel obliged to revoke your certificate of exemption unless either (1) your employer can satisfy the Department that the work upon which you are at present engaged is such as to justify the continuance of your exemption, or (2) you obtain employment on munitions work, in doing which you would probably find the Labour Exchanges of assistance to you.  Before giving a decision on the Recruiting Officer’s application, the Department would be glad to receive your observations on these two points at an early date.’

We are very interested to find out more about Percy Carr and what happened to him after March 1916.  Did he find employment elsewhere?  Did he join the army, and if he did, did he survive the war?