| Description | North Riding appeal tribunal number: 4363
Appeal against conscription of: Sidney Eaton
Age: 27
Address: 47, Redcar Road, Guisborough
Occupation: Joiner etc
Local tribunal: Guisborough Urban District Council
Central tribunal: No
Military Service Act 1916 or Attested: Military Service Act
Grounds for appeal: a) continue in current occupation b) engage in different occupation, e) ill health or infirmity
Appellant: Sidney Eaton
Summary of case: The appeal to the local tribunal was by the Agent of Lord Gisborough stated that Eaton was the sole joiner and sawyer left on the estate. In July 1917 Eaton started work in munitions at Richardson at Middlesbrough. The appeal was dismissed. In October 1917 Eaton appealed to the North Riding Appeal Tribunal stating that he services 25 farms for fencing and other work. He has a widowed mother in delicate health, unable to perform household duties and a sister dependent on him. Since September 1914 he has offered for enlistment three times and was rejected each time classified as C3. He has suffered from epilepsy since nine years of age and frequently has fits. His doctor, Dr Stainforth certifies that he considers him totally unfit for military duty having witnessed and can verify that the seizures are true epileptic fits. The North Riding Appeal Tribunal were informed by the local tribunal that this man had expressed his determination not to be taken for the army. According to the military representative epileptic fits can be more or less self-induced by excessive smoking. The local tribunal had refused the appeal of the employer chiefly on the ground that this man had openly boasted that he had smoked excessively in order to induce weakness of the heart, and according to the Military Representative his heart weakness as well as epileptic fits were in all probability self-induced. He is in charge, it is understood, of a circular saw which must be an extremely dangerous occupation for a man subject to epilepsy.
Supporting evidence: Yes
Date and decision of North Riding Appeal Tribunal: 26 Oct 1917. Dismissed |