Percy Horton
| Percy Horton | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1897 Brighton |
| Died | 1970 |
| Education | Brighton School of Art Royal College of Art |
| Known for | painting, drawing |
Percy Frederick Horton MA, RBA, ARCA (8 March 1897 in Brighton, England – 1970) was an English painter and art teacher, and Ruskin Master of Drawing, University of Oxford from 1949 to 1964. During the First World War he was imprisoned as a conscientious objector.
Horton was one of three brothers born into a working-class family in Brighton; his father, Percy Horton, was a bus conductor and his mother, Ellen (née Marman), had worked in service and as a nurse. His younger brother was artist Ronald Horton (1902–1981). Horton's parents provided for music lessons where he chose to learn the violin. During his time at school he developed an interest in acting in school plays, and giving impromptu street performances. His mother was instrumental in encouraging her sons’ education, and all three received scholarships to Brighton Municipal Secondary School. Horton attended the Brighton School of Art between 1912 and 1916, again with a scholarship, where he gained a distinction in the Department of Education Drawing Examination.
Horton had become a socialist and a member of the Labour Party through the influence of the Labour Leader, the anti-war weekly publication of the Independent Labour Party. Following First World War conscription in 1916 he joined the Brighton branch of the No-Conscription Fellowship, and refused to be called up, maintaining an absolutist conscientious objection. On 21 March 1916 as an absolutist he argued at Brighton Military Service Tribunal against even non-combatant service, but his request for complete exemption was refused. Although being a conscientious objector, he was still considered a soldier subject to military discipline, and upon not reporting for duty with the Royal Fusiliers he was arrested by the civil police, brought before Brighton Magistrates' Court, fined and handed over to the Army. For disobeying orders he was court-martialled in Edinburgh on 7 August 1916 and sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour, served at Calton Prison, Edinburgh. He was court-martialled twice more before his release, on grounds of serious ill-health, "to the care of his friends", in December 1917.
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