I am looking for information about a John Burke, born in 1888, who was a conscientious objector in the First World War.

Question

John Burke was born in 1888 (probably March), and was conscripted into the British Army in 1917. At the time of his conscription he seems to have been living in Morecambe, Lancashire. He was married when he was conscripted, but I do not know the name of his wife, and he does not show up on local marriage records. He was a conscientious objector and was discharged from the army in 1919. I have been unable to find out anything else about him.

Comments

1901 England Census

View Image View Record

Name	John Burke
Age	12
Estimated Birth Year	abt 1889
Relation to Head	Son
Gender	Male
Father	William Burke
Mother	Mary Burke
Birth Place	Burnley, Lancashire, England
Civil parish	Burnley
	Burnley, Lancashire, England
Ecclesiastical parish	St Catherine
County/Island	Lancashire
Country	England
Registration district	Burnley
Sub-registration district	East Ward
ED, institution, or vessel	06
Piece	3861
Folio	147
Page number	12
Household schedule number	80
Household Members	Name Age William Burke 32 Mary Burke 32 John Burke 12 James Burke 10 Margaret Burke 6 Joseph Burke 1 Ann Couroy 65

Answer 1

The 1891 census entry shows he was John P Burke and reveals his mother's maiden name (Conroy) so we can confidently identify the birth. It was probably March 1889 to beat the census deadline but overflow into the next quarter.

Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
Ann Conroy   Head F 53 Ireland
Mary Burke   Daughter F 23 Lancashire, England
William Burke   Son In Law M 23 Lancashire, England
John P Burke   M 2 Lancashire, England
James Burke    M 0 Lancashire, England

"England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q518-JW2 : 15 October 2015), John P Burke in household of Ann Conroy, Burnley, Lancashire, England; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Lancashire county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey

Name  John Patrick Burke   
Event Type Birth Registration   
Registration Quarter Apr-May-Jun   
Registration Year 1889   
Registration District Burnley   
County  Lancashire   

"England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2XYC-9L4 : 1 October 2014), John Patrick Burke, 1889; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Burnley, Lancashire, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England

Now searching for John P Burke deaths of the right age there's only one match - Q1 1968 aged 78 in the slightly surprising location of Cardiff. Of course it's possible the death was recorded abroad or without the initial but this is a strong candidate.

http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=wyYH4Uwus%2ByVzKywQ74fww&scan=1