The tragic story of a conscientious objector who was branded an outcast being dying in a suspected suicide is to be retold as part of a new documentary series.

Alfred Martlew was shunned by his own community in York and labelled a coward as a teenager for refusing to fight during the First World War.

He was 19 when war was declared but refused to sign up alongside other men from the area, stating resolutely at his tribunal: 'I will not kill another human being.'

He added: 'I have a conscientious objection to participating either voluntarily or compulsorily in the taking of human life or to be an instrument for aiding others.'

Alfred Martlew (pictured spinning in 1917) was shunned by his own community in York and labelled a coward as a teenager for refusing to fight during the First World War

Alfred was eventually buried in a grave at nearby St Andrew's church in Bishopthorpe, away from other graves in the churchyard.

The factory worker was one of the Richmond 16, a group of pacifists who were held at Richmond Castle in Yorkshire for refusing conscription.

All 16 men were eventually taken to France in 1916 to join the Non-Combatant Corps, where they would be required to perform roles such as carrying stretchers.

While on the front, the group were given just 24 hours to make the decision to join the war effort fully of face a firing squad, but still Alfred refused.

But at the eleventh hour his life was saved after Prime Minister Herbert Asquith ordered no objectors in France be shot for refusing to obey military orders.

An initiative gave 'sincere' objectors the opportunity to undertake civilian work as an alternative to prison, and Alfred took on working a quarry (pictured) and as a tree feller

Pictured is Alfred's military exemption application. He was 19 when war was declared but refused to sign up alongside other men from the area

He returned to England was imprisoned at Winchester before being offered a place n on the Home Office Scheme.

The initiative gave 'sincere' objectors the opportunity to undertake civilian work as an alternative to prison, and Alfred took on working a quarry and as a tree feller.

However he continued to battle with the idea that his work was still contributing to the war effort and he ran away from the posting in 1917, back to York.

A white feather for a coward: A symbol to shame men into war The white feather has been a symbol of cowardice in Britain since the 18th century. The tradition is thought to derive from cockfighting and the belief that a cockerel sporting a white feather in its tail was likely to be a poor fighter. It resurfaced prominently during the First World War, when conscientious objectors were shamed by members of the Suffragette movement. The Order of the White Feather aimed to force men into enlisting in the army, by asking women to approach men in the street who were not wearing a uniform and hand them a white feather. This prompted the Home Secretary to issue politicians and public servants with lapel badges reading 'King and Country' to indicate that they too were serving the war effort. However, there were also unfortunate occasions when wounded soldiers on leave from the trenches wearing civilian clothes would sometimes be presented with a white feather by women unaware of their service. In one instance Private Ernest Atkins, who was on leave from the Western Front, was riding a tram when he was presented with a white feather by a girl sitting behind him. He smacked her across the face with his pay book and said: 'Certainly I'll take your feather back to the boys at Passchendaele. Advertisement

It was here that he would meet up with his fiancee Annie Leeman. Alfred handed over his money and watch to Annie before telling her he intended to hand himself into police.

Just over a week later, Alfred's badly decomposed body was found in the River Ouse at Bishopthorpe. He was 23 years old.

An inquest held into his death the next day returned an 'unsolved verdict', however the coroner ruled that it was likely he had taken his own life.

He was eventually buried in a grave at nearby St Andrew's church in Bishopthorpe, away from other graves in the churchyard.

His story is set to be retold as part of a documentary series called Emmerdale 1918, in which stars of the soap look at the lives of people from Yorkshire during the war.

In Friday night's episode, Bhasker Patel, who plays factory owner Rishi Sharma, is moved to tears as he recounts Alfred's steps.

He says: 'I stood in the town hall in York, where Alfred faced a tribunal 100 years ago and he said, 'I will not kill another human being.'

'That really got to me. A young guy who stood right there and said, 'No, I won't kill.' I am not for war. I am into sitting down and talking. Today there are many Alfreds out there.'

The actor also visited the cells at Richmond Castle in order to get a sense of the dire conditions the Richmond 16 were forced to live in.

He says: 'They were given only bread and water, and when they complained about sleeping on the wooden floor the guards removed the planks so they would sleep on only cold stone.

'They were strong-willed men who would not compromise their principles, no matter what the punishment.'