In April 2016 the North Yorkshire County Record Office was delighted to be awarded £8,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to make the North Riding Military Tribunal Papers 1916 –1918 widely available.
The North Yorkshire County Record Office holds nearly 6000 appeal papers of men who wished to defer their military service or who conscientiously objected to it. In 1921 the Board of Health issued instructions that all tribunal records be destroyed. There were two exceptions to this, Middlesex and Lothian and Peebles appeal records. These were retained as a benchmark for possible future use. By an oversight the North Riding Tribunal papers have survived.
The Grounds for Appeal volunteers are summarising, listing and digitising the case papers. These summaries can be viewed on our online catalogue:
https://archivesunlocked.northyorks.gov.uk
If you find a case you are interested in, you are welcome to visit us to view the papers.
North Yorkshire County Record Office, Maplas Road, Northallerton,
North Yorkshire, DL7 8TB
email: archives@northyorks.gov.uk or telephone: +(44)01609 777585
Grounds for Appeal: The North Riding Appeal Tribunal Papers 1916-1918 