An Incarcerated Conscience

‘Instead of being in the pulpit I find myself in prison.’

These were the heartrending words of Benjamin Meyrick - the only ordained minister in Wales to be imprisoned as a conscientious objector during the Great War. Meyrick was writing to his friend and supporter, E. K. Jones, and his prison was the guard room at the military barracks in Litherland, Liverpool, during the summer of 1917.

Meyrick had been jailed because he had been ‘absent without leave’ from the Army. As a conscientious objector he refused to enlist and as a minister of religion the expectation was that he would be legitimately excused from any military duty during the War.

How then did the Reverend Ben Meyrick find himself jailed for two years with hard labour? Using detailed and original historical research this essay will attempt to answer that question. In addition, through the story of one man we will also glimpse the condition of the Welsh chapel movement and find how they rejected their former pacifist stance in order to support British involvement in the War, for despite the support offered to Meyrick by many, the truth is that only a small minority of Nonconformists had much sympathy with his case.