Six weeks ago at the Marazion Meeting House, I was handed a folder which contained the printed account of Fred Murfin's three years in prison as a C.O. (Conscientious Objector) during World War One. I had not seen this treasure in the Marazion Quaker archive before and now I was being asked, as the Meeting's librarian, to do whatever I felt fit with this document. The pages had been punch-holed and fixed together - but out of sequence at one point - and there was no proper cover. It had been written by Fred Murfin in 1965, six years before his death in 1971, and first published through the Tottenham Meeting House in 1965. At some point in his later life, Fred Murfin became a member of the Marazion Quaker community and worshipped here with Wilfred Tregenza, another C.O. who served time in prison for refusing to kill in World War One (see my earlier blogpost here by pressing this link). When our most senior member today, Tony Fitt, first attended the Marazion Quaker community with his wife, the late Moira Fitt, in the 1960s, he had the privilege of knowing both these gentlemen.
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| Fred Murfin (1888-1971) - a Quaker C.O. during WW1 and author of PRISONERS FOR PEACE |
It has now been my privilege to bring this invaluable historical document to fresh life through the services of PlusPrint at Long Rock, Penzance. I cannot be sure how many copies were in existence before this reprint at the end of last year but apart from the Marazion copy there are only four others recorded: one in the Cornwall Area Meeting (CAM) library (CAM have the copyright); one in the Euston Road Quaker library in London (their catalogue card says "the original is with Bertha Fox"); and one in the Liddle Collection of the University of Leeds library. I have had 25 copies printed of this new
edition. If you would like to purchase one, email me at robdonovan65@gmail.com and then send me a cheque or arrange a bank transfer for the £10 cost plus any postage and packing that may be necessary. |
| Fred Murfin's remarkable account, written and published in 1965 and now reprinted in 2026 |
Fred Murfin's account fills 43 pages and is packed with detail about prison conditions and his and other Quakers' steadfast determination to live out their Quaker values whilst inside the cage of punishment. It is important to remember that at least 70 C.O.s died as a result of their ill-treatment and privations - see the Peace Pledge Union website and this link here . Fred and nearly forty others had been sentenced to death for their so-called 'cowardice' and it may be that only the sudden death of the Secretary of State for War, Field Marshall Earl Herbert Kitchener, in June 2016 halted the intention to shoot the C.O. "deserters" and led instead to a commutation of ten years' hard labour. Fred, in 1959, unveiled the memorial plaque to these 70 men at the Peace Pledge Union's central office in London.
Here is an extract from Wikipedia, explaining more about the history of conscientious objectors and contemporary legislation affecting such people:
"History
Many conscientious objectors have been executed, imprisoned, or otherwise penalized when their beliefs led to actions conflicting with their society's legal system or government. The legal definition and status of conscientious objection has varied over the years and from nation to nation. Religious beliefs were a starting point in many nations for legally granting conscientious objector status.
The earliest recorded conscientious objector, Maximilianus, was conscripted into the Roman Army in the year 295, but "told the Proconsul in Numidia that because of his religious convictions he could not serve in the military". He was executed for this, and was later canonized as Saint Maximilian.[10]
An early recognition of conscientious objection was granted by William the Silent to the Dutch Mennonites in 1575. They could refuse military service in exchange for a monetary payment.[11]
Formal legislation to exempt objectors from fighting was first granted in mid-18th-century Great Britain following problems with attempting to force Quakers into military service. In 1757, when the first attempt was made to establish a British Militia as a professional national military reserve, a clause in the Militia Ballot Act 1757 allowed Quakers exemption from military service.[12]
In the United States, conscientious objection was permitted from the country's founding, although regulation was left to individual states prior to the introduction of conscription.[11]
International law
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
In 1948, the issue of the right to "conscience" was dealt with by the United Nations General Assembly in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It reads:
The proclamation was ratified during the General Assembly on 10 December 1948 by a vote of 48 in favour, 0 against, with 8 abstentions.[13]
In 1974, the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, Seán MacBride said, in his Nobel Lecture, "To the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights one more might, with relevance, be added. It is 'The Right to Refuse to Kill'."[14]
In 1976, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights entered into force. It was based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and was originally created in 1966. Nations that have signed this treaty are bound by it. Its Article 18 begins: "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion."[15]
However, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights left the issue of conscientious objection inexplicit, as in this quote from War Resisters International: "Article 18 of the Covenant does put some limits on the right [to freedom of thought, conscience and religion], stating that [its] manifestations must not infringe on public safety, order, health or morals. Some states argue that such limitations [on the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion] would [derivatively] permit them to make conscientious objection during time of war a threat to public safety, or mass conscientious objection a disruption to public order, ... [Some states] even [argue] that it is a 'moral' duty to serve the state in its military."[16]
On 30 July 1993, explicit clarification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 18 was made in the United Nations Human Rights Committee general comment 22, Paragraph 11: "The Covenant does not explicitly refer to a right to conscientious objection, but the Committee believes that such a right can be derived from article 18, inasmuch as the obligation to use lethal force may seriously conflict with the freedom of conscience and the right to manifest one's religion or belief."[17] In 2006, the committee has found for the first time a right to conscientious objection under article 18, although not unanimously.[18]
In 1997, an announcement of Amnesty International's forthcoming campaign and briefing for the UN Commission on Human Rights included this quote: "The right to conscientious objection to military service is not a marginal concern outside the mainstream of international human rights protection and promotion."[19]
In 1998, the Human Rights Commission reiterated previous statements and added "states should ... refrain from subjecting conscientious objectors ... to repeated punishment for failure to perform military service".[20] It also encouraged states "to consider granting asylum to those conscientious objectors compelled to leave their country of origin because they fear persecution owing to their refusal to perform military service ..."[9][21]
In 2001, Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union recognised the right to conscientious objection.[22]"
MUCH FOOD FOR THOUGHT ABOVE - WILL WE ALWAYS HAVE A RIGHT TO REFUSE TO KILL?
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| Fred Murfin (seated) and Stuart Morris, also a conscientious objector (Copyright Cooperative Press) |
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