Family Name:
Lee
Given Names:
William Edward Edgar
Gender:
Male
Birth-date:
1900?
Death-date:
Unknown
Marital Status
Single
Age/ Age Range:
42
Location:
Mt. Lawley, WA.
Occupation:
Business Owner (office supplies)/Minister of Religion
Primary Motivation:
Conscientious Objector – Christian Pacifist
Reason for Court Appearance:
[1] Application to be registered as a Conscientious Objector
[2] Refusal to take the oath of enlistment
[3] Refusal to take the oath of enlistment
Court Name and Location:
[1] Court of Petty Sessions, Perth.
[2] Appeal Court, Perth
[3] Perth Police Court
Court Hearing Date:
[1] 1st April 1942
[2] Unknown
[3] 27 May 1943
Court Outcome:
[1] Ordered to be enrolled as a noncombatant.
[2] Prison sentence (unknown duration)
[3] 4 months in prison
Military Event:
World War II 1939-1945
Further Information:
William Lee had been a Jehovah’s Witness for 18 years and a Minister of the Gospel for 11 years when he appeared in the Perth Police Court before T.H. Hannah, Acting Stipendiary Magistrate, on 27 May 1943. He testified that he had already served two prison terms at Barton’s Mill Prison. He was willing to ‘serve his fellow man in any civilian capacity whatever at army pay’.
Confirmatory Sources: Supreme Court of Western Australia Consignment No. 3620, box 1, File 1942/08; West Australian, 29 May 1943, p. 4.
THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL 