Edith Maud Ellis was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

and was actively involved in supporting

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

s during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Early life

Edith Ellis and her identical twin sister Marian were born on 6 January 1878, the daughters of John Edward Ellis, MP and Maria Rowntree.

World War I

In 1916, Edith became Treasurer of the Friends Service Committee, set up to support Quakers who became conscientious objectors. This committee had been set up by Yearly Meeting in 1915, to advise men of enlistment age. In May 1918, the three officers of the Friends Service Committee were prosecuted under the

Defence of the Realm Act The Defence of the Realm Act 1914 ( 4 & 5 Geo. 5. c. 29) (DORA) was passed in the United Kingdom on 8 August 1914, four days after the country entered the First World War. It was added to as the war progressed. It gave the government wide-ranging ...

, charged with publishing a pamphlet titled ''A Challenge to Militarism'' without submitting it to the Censor. In their defence the Friends stated that: :''We feel that the declaration of Peace and goodwill is the duty of all Christians and ought not to be dependent upon the permission of any Government Official.'' :''We therefore intend to continue the publication of such leaflets as we feel it our duty to put forth, without submitting them to the Censor ...'' Edith Ellis was fined £100 plus 50 guineas costs or three months imprisonment. Harrison Barrow and Arthur Watts received six months imprisonment. An appeal was held in July 1918 but was dismissed. Edith refused to pay her fine and was imprisoned for three months in Holloway.

Later life

In 1919, Edith turned her family home, Wrea Head Hall in Scalby, into a convalescent centre for released conscientious objectors. In 1948, Edith gave Wrea Head and its contents to the North Riding County Council for the purposes of education. Edith established the ''Edith Ellis Charitable Trust'' for general charitable purposes. The Trust, now named ''The Edith M Ellis 1985 Charitable Trust'', "... aims to give small grants to a broad range of Quaker and other UK registered charities or Non Governmental Organisations." Edith Ellis died on 27 March 1963.

References

External links

South London Quakers, Edith Maud Ellis (1878 – 1963)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Edith Maud 1878 births 1963 deaths British anti–World War I activists English identical twins English Quakers Activists from Nottingham People from the Borough of Scarborough