03rd April 2016

Winning the Children

Clements Hall Local History Group is harnessing the interests of people living locally to take part in an exploration of the impact and legacy of WW1, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. One of the themes of this project is the influence of religion.

When war was declared in August 1914 the British armed forces depended entirely on volunteers to rapidly expand their capabilities. The first months of the conflict were a period of intense propaganda, in which some churches zealously embraced the role of recruiters within their communities.

This was the case in South Bank, where the Rev. Stanley Parker of Southlands Wesleyan Methodist Chapel preached energetically on the righteousness of war. Examining The Southlands Messenger of the period, part of an archive held at the Borthwick Institute at the University of York, Meredith Andrea investigates the Chapel’s attitude to enlistment, linking it to the case of a local boy soldier, her great-uncle Albert Seal. To find out more follow this link.