BOWN, Lorice Edmund

Family Name:

Bown

Given Names:

Lorice Edmund

Gender:

Male

Birth-date:

11 September 1919

Death-date:

Unknown

Marital Status

Single

Age/ Age Range:

22-25

Location:

WA, Claremont

Occupation:

Butcher

Primary Motivation:

Conscientious Objector – Religious Pacifism

Reason for Court Appearance:

[1] Application for exemption from military service as a conscientious objector
[2] Appeal of court decision
[3] Refusal to comply with a Manpower direction to work for the Forestry Department.

Court Name and Location:

[1] Court of Summary Jurisdiction, Perth WA
[2] Supreme Court, Perth, WA.

[3] Police Court, Fremantle, WA.

Court Hearing Date:

[1] 13 October 1942
[2] 29 July 1943
[3] 3 November 1944

Court Outcome:

[1] Ordered to perform noncombatant duties
[2] Appeal struck out.
[3] Fined £10; permitted to remain working as a butcher for the present.

Military Event:

World War II 1939-1945

Further Information:

Lorice Bown was born at Kalgoorlie, WA, on 11 September 1919. He was a Jehovah’s Witness, and by 1943 was a Minister of Religion. His application for exemption from military service was rejected in 1942 and he was ordered to perform noncombatant duties, which he refused. After the right of appeal was established, Bown lodged an appeal against the court’s decision, on 7 July 1943. His appeal was heard on 29 July 1943 but was not acted until it was rejected and struck out on 22 May 1944. In November 1944, Lorice appeared on a charge of refusing to obey a Manpower directive to work for the Forestry Department. The magistrate fined him £10 but permitted him to remain working as a butcher after his counsel urged that he be allowed to keep his job because of an acute shortage of butchers. The magistrate complied.

Confirmatory Sources: Supreme Court of Western Australia Consignment No. 3620, box 1, File 1943/17; The Daily News (Perth), 3 November 1944, p. 7.