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Records in this collection
- 1st Sportsman's Battalion, Royal Fusiliers 1914-1918
- 1861 Worldwide Army Index
- Afghan War, Fallen Officers & Victoria Cross Recipients 1878-1880
- Airmen Died in the Great War, 1914-1919
- Anglo-Boer War Records 1899-1902
- Army Deserters 1828-1840
- Army List August 1878
- Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945
- Birmingham City Battalions 1914-1918
- Birmingham Employers Roll of Honour 1914-1918
- Bradford Pals 1914-1918
- Britain, Gestapo Invasion Arrest List 1940
- British Armed Forces, First World War Soldiers' Medical Records
- British Armed Forces, First World War Widows' Pensions Forms
- British Armed Forces, Roman Catholic Registers Baptisms
- British Army Casualty Lists 1939-1945
- British Army Discharges, 60th Foot 1854-1880
- British Army Officers' Widows' Pension Forms 1755-1908
- British Army Service Records - WO 363 & WO 364
- British Army Service Records WO 22 & WO 23
- British Army Service Records WO 96 & WO 97
- British Army, Bond Of Sacrifice: Officers Died In The Great War 1914-1916
- British Army, British Red Cross Society volunteers 1914-1918
- British Army, East Surrey Regiment 1899-1919
- British Army, East Surrey Regiment 1899-1919
- British Army, East Surrey Regiment 1899-1919
- British Army, Honourable Artillery Company
- British Army, Imperial War Museum Bond of Sacrifice 1914-1918
- British Army, Indian Volunteer Force Medal Awards 1915-1939
- British Army, Irish regimental enlistment registers 1877-1924
- British Army, List Of Half-Pay Officers 1714
- British Army, Lloyds Of London Memorial Roll 1914-1919
- British Army, Northumberland Fusiliers 1881-1920
- British Army, Queen's Royal West Regiment 1901-1918
- British Army, Queen's Royal West Regiment 1901-1918
- British Army, Queen's Royal West Regiment 1901-1918
- British Army, Railwaymen Died in the Great War
- British Army, Royal Artillery Officer Deaths 1850-2011
- British Army, Royal Artillery Officers 1716-1899
- British Army, Royal Artillery War Commemoration Book, 1914-1918
- British Army, Royal Artillery, 80th Field Regiment, WW2
- British Army, Royal Welch Fusiliers
- British Army, War of 1812 Casualties
- British Army, Women's Army Auxiliary Corps 1917-1920
- British Army, worldwide index 1851
- British Casualties, Aden 1955-1967
- British Casualties, Indian Mutiny 1857-1859
- British Casualties, Korean War 1950 – 1953
- British Casualties, Spanish Civil War 1936 - 1939
- British in Argentina 1914-1919
- British India Office Army & Navy pensions
- British Officers Taken Prisoner of War 1914-1918
- British Red Cross Register of Overseas Volunteers, 1914-1918
- British Royal Air Force, Airmen's Service Records 1912-1939
- British Royal Air Force, Gallantry Awards 1914-1919
- British Royal Air Force, Officers’ Service Records 1912 - 1920
- British Royal Naval Reserve 1899-1930 ADM240
- British Royal Naval Reserve 1899-1930 ADM337
- British Royal Navy & Royal Marines service and pension records, 1704-1919
- British Royal Navy & Royal Marines service and pension records, 1704-1919
- British Royal Navy & Royal Marines, Battle of Jutland 1916 servicemen
- British Royal Navy Allotment Declarations 1795-1852
- British Royal Navy personnel 1831
- British Royal Navy Seamen 1899-1924
- British Royal Navy, Foreign Awards To Officers Index 1914-1922
- British Royal Navy, Ships' Musters
- British subjects who died in the service of the Indian Empire
- British Women's Royal Air Force Service Records 1918-1920
- Chelsea: documents of soldiers awarded deferred pensions 1838-1896 - WO 131
- Chelsea: pensioners' discharge documents 1760-1887 - WO 121
- Chelsea: pensioners' discharge documents, foreign regiments 1816-1817 - WO 122
- City of York militia & muster rolls 1509-1829
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt of Honour, 1914-1921
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt of Honour, 1938-1947
- Crimean War casualties 1853-1856
- Cyprus Emergency Deaths 1955-1960
- De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour 1914-1918
- Edinburgh Pals 1914-1918
- Essex, Clacton Roll Of Honour 1914-1918
- Glasgow Pals 1914-1918
- Hampshire, Portsmouth Military Tribunals 1916-1919
- Harold Gillles Plastic Surgery Archives from WWI
- Harts Army List 1840
- Harts Army List 1888
- Honourable Women of the Great War, 1914-1918
- Imperial Yeomanry, soldiers' documents, South African War 1899-1902 - WO 128
- Irish Officers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919
- Jersey, 1815 Militia Survey
- Kempston Servicemen 1914-1920
- Kilmainham Pensioners British Army service records, 1771-1821
- Leicestershire and Rutland, Soldiers Died 1914-1920
- Lincolnshire, Kesteven Militia Ballot List 1824
- Liverpool Pals 1914-1918
- London County Council Record Of War Service 1914-1918
- London Stock Exchange Memorial Roll 1914-1918
- London volunteer soldiers, 1859-1955
- Manchester Employers' Roll Of Honour 1914-1916
- Manchester Regiment city battalions 1914-1916
- Middlesex War Memorials
- Middlesex, Poplar, Military Tribunals 1916-1918
- Military Nurses (Royal Red Cross)
- Military Nurses 1856-1994
- Napoleonic War Records
- Napoleonic War Records
- Napoleonic War Records 1775 - 1817
- National Roll of the Great War 1914-1918
- Northamptonshire Military Tribunals 1916-1918
- Northamptonshire militia lists 1771
- Officers' services, First World War - WO 339 & WO 374
- Oldham Pals 1914-1920
- Oldham Pals Roll of Honour
- Palestine Conflict British Deaths 1945-1948
- Peninsular Medal Roll 1793-1814
- Plymouth Militia records 1625-1831
- Plymouth Rolls Of Honour 1914-1919
- Plymouth Second World War records 1939-1945
- Plymouth Subscribers For Redemption Of Captives In Turkey and Algiers 1680
- Prisoners of War - Second World War (1939-1945) - Europe
- Prisoners of War - Second World War (1939-1945) - Far East
- Prisoners Of War 1715-1945 - Napoleonic
- Prisoners of war 1745-1945: Crimean War to Boer Wars
- Prisoners Of War 1914-1920
- Regimental records of officers' services 1775-1914 - WO 76
- Royal Air Force Muster Roll 1918
- Royal Artillery Attestations 1883-1942
- Royal Artillery Honors & Awards
- Royal Artillery Military Medal Awards
- Royal Artillery Other Ranks: casualty cards 1939-1947
- Royal Fusiliers Collection 1863-1905
- Royal Fusiliers, Stockbrokers' Battalion 1914-1918
- Royal Marine Medal Roll
- Royal Marines 1899-1919
- Royal Naval Division Casualties, 1914-1919
- Royal Naval Division Service Records, 1914-1920
- Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve medal roll
- Royal Navy Officers 1899-1919
- Royal Navy Officers Medal Roll, 1914-1920
- Royal Sussex Regiment Southdown Battalions 1914-1918
- Royal Tank Corps enlistment records, 1919-1934
- Salford Pals 1914-1918
- Silver War Badge roll 1914-1920
- Soldiers died in the Great War 1914-1919
- South Africa Roll Of Honour 1914-1918
- South Lancashire Regiment Prisoners of War 1914-1918
- Surrey Recruitment Records
- Surrey, Military Tribunals 1915-1918
- Swansea Pals (14th Welsh Regt)
- The Household Cavalry 1801-1919 - WO 400
- Waterloo Roll Call 1815
- Welsh Guards 1915-1918
- World War One British Army Medal Index Cards
- WW1 Ships Lost at Sea, 1914-1919
- WWI Distinguished Conduct Medal Citations
- WWII Escapers and Evaders
Was your ancestor exempt from conscription during the First World War because he was engaged in an occupation of national importance? These records are registers and letter books from local military service tribunals at Woking, Dorking and Haslemere and papers kept by the chairman of the appeal tribunal at Guildford in the English county of Surrey. During the war, the tribunals were set up in each local authority under the Military Service Acts and were tasked with deciding whether a person should be exempt from military service. People could be exempt from military service because of their occupation, ill health or infirmity, financial or domestic obligations and in some cases because they were a conscientious objector to the war. The appeal tribunal considered the cases of those who were unhappy with the verdict of their local tribunal.
What can these records tell me?
The information recorded by each tribunal could vary. Therefore, in each transcript you may find a combination of the following information:
- Name
- Birth year
- Age
- Hearing year
- Occupation
- Marital status
- Address
- Employer’s name and occupation
- Employer’s address
- Nature of appeal
- Person appealing – who has brought the appeal to the tribunal
- Description or notes
- Decision of tribunal
- Group – refers to the Group System or Derby Scheme, introduced in 1915 and ultimately seen as a failure. Men could attest but defer their service until they were called up. The scheme resulted in fewer than anticipated volunteers and closed in December 1915. Conscription became law in January 1916. Derby Scheme men were grouped according to their age and marital status. Numbers 1 to 23 were single men, born between 1897 and 1875. Each number corresponded to a birth year, for example group 1 were born in 1897, group 2 were born in 1896, group 3 were born in 1895, etc. Then numbers 24 to 46 were married men. The pattern was similar to the single men, in that group 24 were born in 1897, group 25 were born in 1896, etc.
- Archive
- Archive reference
- Page number
Images
Images are available for Guildford, Dorking and Haslemere tribunals. The image shows the original register from the tribunals. They may include additional information about your ancestor not found in the transcripts.
Discover more about the Surrey, military tribunals 1915-1918
The records are a combination of the following registers:
- Dorking Rural District Military Service Tribunal registers 1916-1918
- Haslemere Military Service Tribunal minutes 1915-1917
- Woking Military Service Tribunal letter books 1916-1918
- Surrey and Croydon Military Service Appeal Tribunals Guildford committee 1916-1918
Military service tribunals were bodies set up by local councils for men who wanted to appeal for an exemption from conscription. Conscription was enacted in Great Britain in 1916 as part of the Military Service Act. All medically fit single men between the ages of 18 and 41 qualified for conscription. In May 1916, the act was extended to married men. The tribunals were made up of magistrates, councillors, local business leaders and/or labour delegates. The tribunals would always include military representatives to ensure they worked in the best interest of the military. These bodies were charged with accessing individual circumstances while protecting national interests.
A person had the right to appeal conscription on a number of grounds. One such example would be if he were employed in a position of national interest, such as farming or industry. Other reasons for appeal included ill health, infirmity, exceptional financial or business obligations, or conscientious objections. Conscientious objectors were not always given an exemption, but they could be assigned to non-combatant positions. Hearings were usually short, lasting no more than ten minutes. Those appealing could have a solicitor present.
The tribunals allowed exemptions on an absolute, temporary or conditional basis. Absolute exemption meant the individual would not be required for active military service for the duration of the war. For example, on 13 July 1916, John Aitchison was found to be absolutely exempt from service because he was engaged in work of national importance as a farmer.
A conditional exemption was given to a person as long as their personal situation did not change. For example, a person working within a munitions factory he could be exempt unless his employment changed, in which case it was his responsibility to report this change to the tribunal. If a change of circumstances was not reported a person could be fined up to £50. A temporary exemption was only given for a short period of time, usually three to six months, then it would be reviewed by the tribunal. William Frank Hawkes received both conditional and temporary exemptions on sixteen occasions from the Woking military service tribunal. Each exemption explained that Hawkes was exempt from service under the condition that he remained employed as a butcher and slaughter man. These decisions were temporary and lasted from three to six months until the tribunal reviewed it again.