Family Name:
Madsen
Given Names:
Alfred
Gender:
Male
Birth-Date:
Circa 1860
Death-Date:
Unknown
Marital Status:
Married
Age:
Possibly 50+ years old
Location:
VIC, Collingwood
Occupation:
Minister of Religion
Primary Motivation:
Conscientious objector, opposition to conscription
Reason for Court Appearance:
Failure to ensure his son was registered for compulsory military training
Court Name and Location:
Magistrates Court, Collingwood
Court Hearing Date:
September 1912
Court Outcome:
Convicted and fined £2
Military Event:
Boy Conscription 1911-1929
Further Information:
The Revd. Alfred Madsen was a Minister of Religion of the Methodist Church. He had been 30 years in the ministry. He was a member of the Australian Freedom League. He failed to ensure his 14-year-old son, William, was registered for compulsory military training under the Defence Act (DA). He was summonsed to the Magistrates Court at Collingwood, a suburb of Melbourne. He informed the Police Magistrate EH Morrison that the Act required him to act against his most sacred convictions. The magistrate said, We cannot discuss that subject here. When Alfred appealed to the Constitution’s guarantee of religious liberty, he got a similar reply. He was convicted and fined £2. Alfred paid the fine but still refused to register his son for drilling. His was a test case for the authorities. Could they frequently arrest and re-arrest Madsen for the same offence. Eventually the DA was amended to allow the area officer to register a boy conscript without the approval of his parents. This gazette is 2 June 1913. Madsen’s conscientious objection was the catalyst for the amendment. By 1916 he was an advocate of voting ‘yes’ in the conscription plebiscite of WWI.
Confirmatory Sources:
John Barrett, Australians and “Boy Conscription” 1911-1915: Falling In, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1979, pp.165 and 74-175.
Bobbie Oliver, Peacemongers: Conscientious objectors to military service in Australia 1911-1945, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1997, p. 24.
THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL 