RATCLIFF, Joshua

Family Name:

Ratcliff

Given Names:

Joshua

Gender:

Male

Birth-Date:

Circa 1870

Death-Date:

Unknown

Marital Status:

Married

Age:

Late 40s

Location:

VIC, Melbourne

Occupation:

Merchandise-Partner

Primary Motivation:

Conscientious objector, humanist, opposition to conscription

Reason for Court Appearance:

Failure to ensure his two sons were registered for compulsory military training

Court Name and Location:

Magistrates Court, Melbourne

Court Hearing Date:

July 1913

Court Outcome:

Convicted and fined £5

Military Event:

Boy Conscription 1911-1929

Further Information:

Joshua Ratcliff was from Melbourne in Victoria. He was a rationalist and was conscientiously opposed to compulsory military training such as was the case for the Defence Act (DA). He was president of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Freedom League. He was a partner in a firm at Richmond which imported and sold tea and other general merchandise. It had branches throughout Melbourne suburbs.

His two sons who were required to register for compulsory military training under the DA. He was summonsed to court in July 1913 for his failure to ensure his sons were so registered. He explained to the magistrate that, as a Rationalist. He objected to militarism in all its forms and believed military training would result in the ‘physical and moral degradation of the country. The magistrate convicted him and fined him £5. He asked it be raised another shilling so he could appeal to a higher court. This was refused. So determined he would allow his sons to undertake military training he took the family to England in May 1914.

It is unknown what happened between July 1913 and May 1914.

Confirmatory Sources:

John Barrett, Fallin In: Australians and ‘Boy Conscription’ 1911-1915, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1979, pp. 172-173, 175 and 190

Bobbie Oliver, Peacemongers: Conscientious objectors to military service in Australia 1911-1945, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1997, p. 24.