Laurence Hislam (1909 – 26 August 1966) was an English peace activist. Hislam's anti-war feelings and activism developed from about 1938, first in the Peace Pledge Union working with Basque child refugees from the Spanish Civil War. His first notable individual activism was in 1939, when he released "rubber ball bombs" from a suitcase, causing chaos in Downing Street, for which he served one month hard labour. As an anarchist conscientious objector in WWII he served periods of imprisonment, wrote for War Commentary (Freedom Press) and distributed anti-war literature. In 1945 he joined The London Forum discussion group and later worked for the Freedom Defence Committee in London. In 1951 Hislam moved to Gloucestershire, where he continued with anti-war protests and activism including having his head shaved in 1964 and 1965 for a vigil to commemorate the dropping of a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, many local CND demonstrations and a pilgrimage to Rome hoping to influence Pope John XXIII to condemn nuclear weapons. He was a founder member of the Committee of 100 and took part in many CND protests. He was killed in a car crash in 1966.
Early life
Hislam was born in 1909, the second of four children in a working-class family in Camberwell, South East London. His father worked in transport, including driving horse-drawn and then steam-powered buses.
Until he was 28 Laurie lived a carefree existence. He was a conventional white-collar worker and his Denmark Hill tennis club, cricket team and its social activities occupied his free time. Then in 1938 he was confronted with peace posters outside Whitfield's Tabernacle in Rye Lane, Peckham, which changed his entire way of life. "War means total destruction." "War solves nothing." "It is the responsibility of each individual to see that it never happens again." The posters were part of an awareness campaign by the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), which Laurie joined. He became involved with the care of Basque child refugees who were living in a house in Langham, Essex, sponsored by the PPU. He kept in contact with two of the refugees after they returned to Spain in 1940.
On 28 August 1939, when war was imminent, Hislam went to 10 Downing Street, and opened a suitcase containing painted rubber balls. A photograph shows Hislam being hustled away by police after being injured by angry members of the crowd in Downing Street. There resulted the first of many prison sentences, one month's hard labour. He was invited by the BBC to appear on television to explain why he had done what he did. The incident and its reporting were reprised in The Sunday Times colour supplement on 27 August 1989 in a section on "Fifty Years ago today".
World War II
Hislam expressed his opinion at London's Speaker's Corner. He registered as a conscientious objector and attended a tribunal, consisting mainly of retired military men. He was vociferous about his pacifist beliefs, confirmation of his registration was refused, and he became liable for military service. He evaded the authorities for a while, continuing anti-war activities, and then went underground under an assumed name.
Within the PPU Hislam belonged to the dissident Forward Movement of anarchists, with John Hewetson and Frederick Lohr. He wrote and distributed anarchist leaflets, including Enemies of the People, published December 1941 in War Commentary by Freedom Press. Through Lohr he met his future wife, Winifred: they lived with him and other anarchists in Westbourne Terrace, London. In 1947 he was working for the Freedom Defence Committee publishing the FDC Bulletin at the time George Woodcock was secretary.
Lohr, Winifred and other members of the London Forum converted to Catholicism under the guidance of Jesuit priests of the Farm Street church, but Laurie was not convinced that he could be both Catholic and pacifist. By 1951 the couple had three daughters and moved to Gloucestershire.
In Gloucestershire
Hislam lived near Stroud, Gloucestershire, where he worked as a clerk and later a postman. Winifred was a trained teacher and became the main breadwinner. During the fifties Laurie was confirmed a Catholic by William E. Orchard, the pacifist parish priest of St Mary of the Angels Church, Brownshill. In 1957 the couple bought a plot of land and Laurie built, single-handedly, a three-bedroomed wooden bungalow for the growing family. He took 'single-handed' to the extreme of making his own concrete blocks for the foundations as well as learning the skills of plumber and electrician. In 1957, while working on the construction, he was visited by Chelo and Chivvi, two of the Basque refugee children he had sponsored in 1938, now married and living in Bilbao.