Category: Conscientious Objector
Place of Birth: Bexhill
Date of Death: 1956
Place of Death: Bexhill
Place of Burial / Memorials:
Bexhill Cemetery (Grave reference – DBA10)
Address: Albert Road, Bexhill
Photos and newspaper articles
Click on any image to see a larger version
Family Information
Parents:
Father – Charles Wickens, born in 1835, in Hellingly, Sussex
Mother – Catherine A. Wickens (née White), born in 1841, in Hailsham, Sussex
Children (Sidney Harold’s Siblings):
- Albert C. Wickens, son, born 1867, in Eastbourne, Sussex
- Earnest W. Wickens, son, born 1872, in Bexhill, Sussex.
Sidney Harold Wickens married Eva Mary Carter in 1903, in Bexhill
Children of Sidney Harold & Eva Mary Wickens:
- Cecile Joyce Wickens, born in 1906, in Bexhill, Sussex
- Geoffrey Henry Wickens, born in 1907 in Bexhill, Sussex
- Eva Mollie Wickens, born in 1909, in Bexhill, Sussex – married Ernest W. Pons, in Bexhill, in 1935
- Dorothy M. Wickens, born in 1913, in Bexhill, Sussex
- Betty M. Wickens, born in 1915, in Bexhill, Sussex
- Barbara J. Wickens, born 1923, in Bexhill, Sussex
No descendents, beyond Sidney Harold Wickens’ children, have been found; at least those who can be positively identified as such without obtaining birth certificates.
First World War Experience
Sidney Harold Wickens was an interesting case, in that he went before eight tribunals – the first was to seek total exemption for employees and the second to appeal on their behalf when the decision of the Tribunal went against them.
The six hearings that followed were his attempts to get total exemption for himself on various grounds, including his being a Conscientious Objector. Here, he was more successful in that he managed not only to get exemption from combat service at the first hearing but, also, through all the subsequent tribunals managed to avoid having to join a non-combatant corps.
So, Sidney, with his solicitor’s assistance, avoided having to join up for any military service, with the result that he has no First World War experience (other than attending Tribunals!) and no service records.
He’s here because he was a Conscientious Objector and a shrewd business man.
Tribunal Reports
C0004-WICKENS, Sidney Harold (Private) – Transcription of Tribunal Reports