| Description | The NRCC/CL 9 series contains 5809 index entries and a corresponding, but incomplete, set of case papers from the North Riding Appeal Tribunal which, between 1916 and 1918, heard appeals from men who had previously applied to a local tribunal for exemption from compulsory military service. The reasons for exemption fell into seven categories amongst these are: family grounds (looking after dependents), ill health or infirmity of the appellant or a family member, economic grounds (carrying on a business), on moral grounds (conscientious objection) and being in an exempt occupation.
Typically, each case includes a local tribunal appeal form, which states the decision of the local tribunal, and a North Riding Appeal form, which notes their decision. The phrases "Leave to appeal refused" or "on understanding that this was to be final", appears on these forms and means that the conscripted man or the appellant could not appeal to the Central Tribunal. The appellants vary, they can be the conscripted man, or his employer, mother, father, brother or Military Representative who, disagreeing with the decision of the local tribunal went on to appeal against this decision to the North Riding Appeal Tribunal.
Some cases contain additional evidence such as letters in support of the conscripted man, letters from religious bodies, medical certificates or statements from doctors, and business information.
Other records in the series include pamphlets listing certified occupations, correspondence between the Central Tribunal, the North Riding Appeal Tribunal and the local tribunals.
These records have been catalogued as part of the Records Office's 'Grounds for Appeal' project with the support of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund First World War: then and now programme
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| Administrative history | During and after the First World War, conscription was a sensitive issue. In the years after the end of the war the Government issued instructions to the Local Government Boards that all tribunal material should be destroyed, except for the Middlesex Appeal records and a similar set for Lothian and Peebles in Scotland, which were to be retained as a benchmark for possible future use. A sample of records from the Central Tribunal was retained, and these are part of the MH 47 series at The National Archives. Due to an oversight the North Riding Appeal Tribunal papers have survived. The series is incomplete and does not include all case papers for the 5809 index entries. Where the case papers have not survived this is indicated by "index entry only" in the extent field of the catalogue. |