As with many conscientious objectors, we know very little about William Jacques. When William received his call-up papers in July 1916, he was 25, single, an engraver and die cutter, and a Quaker.

At the Military Service Tribunal, he claimed Absolute Exception but was granted only Exemption from Combatant Service, conditional on joining the Friends Ambulance Service, in which he had already participated the previous year. At a later appeal in July 1916, for reasons that are unclear, he was granted Exemption from Combatant Service, conditional on undertaking work of national importance.

William was one of eight conscientious objectors we know of in Glossop.

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