Sybil Morrison (2 January 1893 – 26 April 1984) was a British

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaig ...

and a

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

who was active with several other radical causes. As a young and enthusiastic suffragist, Morrison was persuaded by

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst ('' née'' Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was an English political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, ''Time'' named her as one of the 100 Most Impo ...

that she was too young to go to prison. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, she began in 1916 to drive ambulances in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and attributed her decision to become a pacifist to the sight of a

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, ...

being shot down over the town of

Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population wa ...

: "In the streets of London, ordinary, decent people were clapping and cheering and dancing as though at a play or a circus.... I suddenly saw that war made yet another impact on human beings; it deprived them of their humanity. I became a pacifist then and nothing has happened since to alter my conviction that war is a crime against God and humanity". Morrison became in 1936 one of the first women members of the

Peace Pledge Union The Peace Pledge Union (PPU) is a non-governmental organisation that promotes pacifism, based in the United Kingdom. Its members are signatories to the following pledge: "War is a crime against humanity. I renounce war, and am therefore determine ...

(PPU), a British pacifist organisation, and the British section of

War Resisters International War Resisters' International (WRI), headquartered in London, is an international anti-war organisation with members and affiliates in over 30 countries. History ''War Resisters' International'' was founded in Bilthoven, Netherlands in 1921 unde ...

(WRI). She served as a Campaign Organiser and Chair and wrote the first history of the PPU. In 1940, she spent a month in

Holloway Prison HM Prison Holloway was a closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, until its closure in 2016. His ...

for having spoken against the war at London's

Speakers' Corner A Speakers' Corner is an area where open-air public speaking, debate, and discussion are allowed. The original and best known is in the northeast corner of Hyde Park in London, England. Historically there were a number of other areas desig ...

. Morrison was an active member of the Women's International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF) and was at one stage the Chair of its British branch. Sybil Morrison was the secretary of the short-lived Women's Peace Campaign, set up by the PPU at the end of 1939. It had been hoped to obtain the signatures of one million women against the Second World War, but as Morrison admitted, "The invasion of Scandinavia has, of course, made it much more difficult now to approach people about signing an appeal for negotiations because opinion is hardening against the pacifist. The Campaign was doomed after the surrender of the French in June, 1940 but the collapse may also have had something to do with the opposition of

John Middleton Murry John Middleton Murry (6 August 1889 – 12 March 1957) was an English writer. He was a prolific author, producing more than 60 books and thousands of essays and reviews on literature, social issues, politics, and religion during his lifetime. ...

, editor of

Peace News ''Peace News'' (''PN'') is a pacifist magazine first published on 6 June 1936 to serve the peace movement in the United Kingdom. From later in 1936 to April 1961 it was the official paper of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), and from 1990 to 2004 ...

. Murry was described as having a "frightful" attitude towards women and was not at all supportive of the campaign". Morrison was the Organising Secretary and Chair of the

Six Point Group The Six Point Group was a British feminist campaign group founded by Lady Rhondda in 1921 to press for changes in the law of the United Kingdom in six areas. Aims The six original specific aims were: # Satisfactory legislation on child assault; ...

(c.1948-1950). It campaigned for legislation on assault against children, on support for widows, on legislation in support of unmarried mothers and on issues of equal rights and equal pay. Another member of the Group was

Dora Russell Dora, Countess Russell (née Black; 3 April 1894 – 31 May 1986) was a British author, a feminist and socialist campaigner, and the second wife of the philosopher Bertrand Russell. She was a campaigner for contraception and peace. She worke ...

, the second wife of

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ar ...

. Morrison was also active with the

Howard League for Penal Reform The Howard League for Penal Reform is a registered charity in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest penal reform organisation in the world, named after John Howard. It was founded as the Howard Association in 1866 and changed its name in 1921, ...

and the

National Peace Council The National Peace Council (NPC), founded in 1908 and disbanded in 2000, acted as the co-ordinating body for almost 200 groups across Britain, with a membership ranging from small village peace groups to national trade unions and local authorities. ...

. She was a vice-president of the

Fellowship Party The Fellowship Party was an environmentalist political party in England from 1955 to 2007. It opposed all weapons as well as nuclear power. Its national petition against nuclear weapons tests contributed to the forming of the Campaign for Nucle ...

, a small British political party that attracted many peace activists. She was a close friend of the leading peace activists

Donald Soper Donald Oliver Soper, Baron Soper (31 January 1903 – 22 December 1998) was a British Methodist minister, socialist and pacifist. He served as President of the Methodist Conference in 1953–54. After May 1965 he was a peer in the House of Lor ...

and

Fenner Brockway Archibald Fenner Brockway, Baron Brockway (1 November 1888 – 28 April 1988) was a British socialist politician, humanist campaigner and anti-war activist. Early life and career Brockway was born to W. G. Brockway and Frances Elizabeth Abbey ...

and the pacifist actress

Sybil Thorndike Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969. Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her ...

; they each referred to "the other Sybil". She was a lesbian who was once described as "the most famous dyke in London". For the last few years of her life, she shared a house with Myrtle Solomon, who was the general secretary of the Peace Pledge Union and later the chair of WRI. In the 1930s, she had a relationship with another suffragist,

Dorothy Evans Dorothy Elizabeth Evans (6 May 1888 – 28 August 1944) was a British feminist activist and suffragette. On the eve of World War I she was a militant organiser for the Women's Social and Political Union twice arrested in Belfast on explos ...

, which was considered shocking at the time.Olivia Beecham “Dorothy Evans – Suffragette”
/ref> Other people with whom Morrison worked included

Vera Brittain Vera Mary Brittain (29 December 1893 – 29 March 1970) was an English Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, writer, feminist, socialist and pacifist. Her best-selling 1933 memoir '' Testament of Youth'' recounted her experiences during the Firs ...

Alex Comfort Alexander Comfort (10 February 1920 – 26 March 2000) was a British scientist and physician known best for his nonfiction sex manual, '' The Joy of Sex'' (1972). He was an author of both fiction and nonfiction, as well as a gerontologist ...

Laurence Housman Laurence Housman (; 18 July 1865 – 20 February 1959) was an English playwright, writer and illustrator whose career stretched from the 1890s to the 1950s. He studied art in London. He was a younger brother of the poet A. E. Housman and his ...

Hugh Brock Hugh Brock (1914–1985) was a lifelong British pacifist, editor of '' Peace News'' between 1955 and 1964, a promoter of nonviolent direct action and a founder of the Direct Action Committee, a forerunner of the Committee of 100. ''Peace News'' ...

and

Kathleen Lonsdale Dame Kathleen Lonsdale ( Yardley; 28 January 1903 – 1 April 1971) was an Irish-born British pacifist, prison reformer and crystallographer. She proved, in 1929, that the benzene ring is flat by using X-ray diffraction methods to elucidate ...

and many other leading individuals in radical politics during much of the 20th century. Even towards the end of her life, she took an active interest in politics and turned up at the beginning of a march against the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territori ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Sybil British women in World War I British anti-war activists English suffragists British pacifists 1984 deaths 1893 births English LGBT people Lesbians 20th-century LGBT people

See also

References