Conscientious Objectors Remembrance Breakfast

On 25 April 2025 more than fifty members of the community came together in the grounds of the prison garden to honour the memory of the 13 conscientious objectors who were imprisoned at Mount Crawford. The conscientious objectors were incarcerated during WWI and WWII because of their religious, political and moral beliefs. 

This is the second year the garden has hosted a breakfast to commemorate the conscientious objectors. We were inspired to keep their memory alive after reading John Pratt’s book about A.C. Barrington, a law clerk and faithful Christian who wrote and spoke out against New Zealand’s involvement in WWII. In 1941 Barrington was sentenced to 12 months at the prison, and kept a diary during his time there, scrawled within the margins of books. This diary mentions Barrington’s time spent in the garden, and how prisoners interacted with plants/nature. Upon his death, Barrington’s son discovered and reconstructed the account of his father’s imprisonment. 

In 2022 we were lucky enough to host a lecture by John Pratt, Emeritus Professor of Criminology at Victoria University who published the book the Prison Diary of A.C. Barrington: Dissent and Conformity in Wartime New Zealand. Emeritus Professor Pratt also joined us to remember the conscientious objectors on Anzac Day 2024. You can find information about this book here: https://www.otago.ac.nz/press/books/the-prison-diary-of-ac-barrington 

Attendees

The Conscientious Objectors Remembrance Breakfast was an event open to all, and was attended by garden members, members of the wider community, and whanau of conscientious objectors.

Among the attendees was Tui Summers, who has published a thesis exploring female social justice leaders in New Zealand. Her grandmother Constance was the only woman imprisoned for being a conscientious objector. During the Winter of 1941, she spent three months living at the (now-demolished) women's prison down the hill from the prison garden. Tui shared memories from her childhood, including that her grandmother was a keen gardener. Information about Professor Summers’ thesis can be accessed at: https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/items/cf7e19fd-e6d3-4dd7-9eeb-306bfb726654

The food

We were inspired to host a breakfast after reading A.C. Barrington’s account of what he was served while imprisoned at Mount Crawford. In his prison diary, Barrington records the monotony of the prison dinners: a big plate of meat, potatoes and carrots. Barrington recounts his attempts to add variety by smuggling vitamin-rich roots from the prison gardens, such as dandelions. 

He writes that they were served the same breakfast every day: tea, toast with butter, porridge, and hash. Barrington describes the porridge given to the prisoners as “disgusting”. He writes, “The urns used to make porridge were also used to make tea, so the porridge tasted like tea and the tea tasted like porridge.” https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/news/victorious/2016/autumn-2016/prison-diary

Thankfully the breakfast we served was a little more refined: Parsley pesto with pine nuts

Boiled potatoes

Boiled swede

Roast beefSourdough bread courtesy of Shelly Bay Baker

Egg salad

Homemade relishes

The garden’s commitment to education

We believe it is important to remember the conscientious objectors, and to tell their stories. Mount Crawford Prison and its garden represent an important chapter in New Zealand’s history, and we are proud to share their stories in the garden.

Next year we plan to host the remembrance breakfast on May 15, International Conscientious Objectors Day.