Arthur, the detective determined to miss the war

One young man believed he was exempt from serving in World War One - did others agree?

The Blake family were natives of Maidstone in Kent. Arthur Henry Blake, born in the town in 1863, worked as a plumber and gas fitter. He had started a relationship with Louisa Adelaide Turner in the 1880s, and the couple had two children - Florence Louisa and Frances Maud - prior to marrying in 1890. Three more children followed: Arthur in 1893, Herbert in 1895 and finally, little Alice Maud, who died in infancy.

Their lives were rather ordinary: unlike many families, they did not move around, and lived for years at 13 Chapel Court before, in the first decade of the 20th century moving to 11 Chapel Place, off Union Street. The daughters moved out of home and married; and by 1911, just Arthur and Herbert were left at home.

Arthur, by the age of 18, had got a job working for local estate agent Felix Kite. He was content working as Felix's assistant, but unfortunately, Felix was in his 70s, and in the spring of 1915, he died. With his death, the estate agency also ended, and Arthur had to get a new job.

This was an urgent task. Less than a year earlier, Arthur had got married, and he needed to support both himself and his wife Olive. They had moved into their own house - at 10 Carey Street, only a street away from where his parent’s home was - and he had rent and bills to pay. His parents were not well off enough to be able to help.

Arthur promptly found not one, but two new jobs. His day job was as a ledger clerk at the toffee firm Messrs Edward Sharp and Company, but outside of this, he set up as a private enquiry agent - another term for a private detective - specialising in making financial enquiries. If an individual or bank wanted to know whether a person was financially responsible, they would ask Arthur to make enquiries and report back.

Being a private detective, as I have previously noted, was viewed with suspicion in many quarters. Although there was plenty of business, with many people needing to commission such detectives to make enquiries for them, or to watch individuals, others saw it as a shady occupation that intruded on people's right to privacy.

Arthur did not help this perception. He started his new business during World War 1, and he was reluctant to stop it in order to go to the frontline. He was not alone; but applying for an exemption was not for the faint hearted. To do so, you had to appear in front of a local tribunal, comprising both local society figures and a representative from the military, and give your reasons. In April 1916, Arthur Blake appeared at a tribunal in Maidstone to ask for an exemption from service. He argued that he needed an exemption for 'domestic reasons' and because 'he was not strong enough for military service or hard work.' Office work, apparently, was not hard work; and Arthur did not want to do anything that was.

Arthur Blake did not want to fight in the war

In court, he was challenged as to the nature of his work, with the description of his financial enquiries being greeted with laughter. One local alderman, Mr Vaughan, could not believe that he could meet with success, asking, "Is there much of this business in Maidstone?". Arthur, however, calmly confirmed that there was 'a good deal' of work available.

However, it was clear that Arthur's reasons to avoid fighting in the war were rather feeble. Many other men would have been reluctant to do so for 'domestic' reasons, not wanting to leave their families or their jobs, but still did so. For Arthur to claim that he couldn't, and that he wasn't 'strong' enough, was something that would have met with derision. He was mocked in court for claiming an 'absolute total exemption' from involvement in the war, because he had explicitly asked 'for all I can expect to get'.

He was letting the side down - letting the country down. His application for exemption was swiftly refused.

There is no obvious record for Arthur Blake of Maidstone ending up on the frontline in The National Archives' records, although if anyone knows if he did, do let me know. Arthur and Olive certainly had a child during the war, born a year after his appeal for exemption. A further two children were born in the early 1920s.

By 1939, Arthur, now a middle aged man, was working as a labourer for the town corporation. He lived at 11 Chapel Place, which had been his family home nearly 30 years earlier, and he would die in the town where he had lived all his life in 1976, aged 83. One wonders how long the people of Maidstone remembered his attempt to avoid going to war.