John Byard Player was one of the prominent signatures to an anti-war petition presented to the British Parliament by the leading Liberal and reformist Member of Parliament John Bright on 2 March 1846. Amongst other signatories were Thomas Huntley and George Palmer, well known entrepreneurs who had set up the Huntley and Palmers biscuit manufacturing company. The petition lamented “slaughter in remote parts of India…”. The petition caused much consternation within government circles with the Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel reported as stating that he “could hardly have believed it possible that in this country any body of men could be found ready to sign a petition such as one referred to.” This petition referred to the First Anglo Sikh War, 1845 to 1846, which resulted in the partial subjugation of the Sikh Kingdom and annexation of Jammu and Kashmir.