Donald Rooum
Encyclopedia
Donald Rooum is an English
anarchist cartoonist
and writer
. He has a long association with Freedom Press
who have published seven volumes of his Wildcat cartoons.
In 1963 he played a key role in exposing Harold Challenor
, a corrupt police officer
who tried to frame Rooum. 20 years earlier Challenor had been one of only two of the original six SAS to survive Operation Speedwell
in 1943, spending 7 months deep behind German lines.
. Rooum registered as a conscientious objector
.
He was then pressurised by his family to complete two years military service
starting in January 1947. A resettlement grant following this service allowed him to study Commercial Design at Bradford Regional Art School from 1949 to 1953.
Rooums portrait by Frank Lisle is in Wakefield Gallery http://peteashton.com/2008/06/donald_rooum_spotted_in_wakefield/
name=Wakefield>"Portrait of Donald Rooum by Frank Lisle", Object of the Month, April 2008 Wakefield
Council From 1954 to 1966 he worked as a layout artist and typographer
in various London advertising agencies, then as a lecturer in Typographic Design at London College of Printing until 1983. Rooum took a degree with the Open University
from 1973 to 1979, and was awarded a first class degree in Life Sciences in 1980. He was elected Member of the Institute of Biology
(incorporated into the Society of Biology
in October 2009) and became a Chartered Biologist in 2004.
Rooum lived with Irene Brown from 1954 to 1983 and they had four children together (Josephine Anne born 1956, Penelope Jane 1958 (died 1960), Mathew Donald 1960, Rebecca Jane 1962).
. He subscibed to War Commentary beginning a connection with Freedom Press
which has continued for over 60 years. During that time he has been a writer for and an editor of Freedom, the name to which War Commentary reverted after the end of the Second World War.
In 1949, Rooum began to raise his profile in activist circles, participating the annual Anarchist Summer School. Indeed, when one of his art tutors Frank Lisle painted Rooum's portrait in 1952, the working title for the picture was The Anarchist. Rooum was an outdoor speaker, first in Market Street in Bradford then at Speaker's Corner. He was a founding member of the Malatesta
Club, an anarchist social club and venue opened in London on May Day
1954 where Rooum and Irene were volunteer workers.
In the long-running feud between Vernon Richards
and those associated with Freedom on the one hand, and Albert Meltzer
and those associated with Black Flag
on the other, Rooum's loyalties were with Richards and Freedom.
. He had, by good fortune, read some material on forensic science.
Rooum exposed police corruption
during demonstrations against the London visit by King Paul of Greece
and Queen Frederika
. Rooum proved that an offensive weapon had been planted on him.
On 11 July, Rooum demonstrated against the Royal party at Claridge's
hotel. His banner "Lambrakis RIP" was confiscated by a police officer and read by four plain clothes men. According to Rooum he asked "Can I have my banner back?"
Rooum:- "This big one with the short-back-and-sides stepped forward. 'Can you have your what back?'
"'My banner.'
"He smiled at me. 'You're fucking nicked, my old beauty,' he said, and gave me a terrific clout on the ear."
At the police station, the arresting officer, Detective Sergeant Harold Challenor
, "took from his pocket a screwed-up newspaper, which he opened with a flourish. Inside was a piece of brick. His smile widened. 'There you are, my old beauty. Carrying an offensive weapon. You can get two years for that.'"
Rooum gave his clothes to his defence solicitor Stanley Clinton Davis for analysis. He convinced the magistrate that, because no brick dust was found in his pocket, no brick could have been there at the time of the alleged offence. There followed a public enquiry that criticized the police and led to the imprisonment of three officers. Rooum received £500 compensation (£7,900 at 2011 value) and other convictions were overturned.
Challenor was deemed mentally unfit to plead and was committed to Netherne mental hospital. A subsequent enquiry found that he had probably been suffering from the onset of paranoid schizophrenia
for some months before the incident.
The lack of any successful prosecution against him was seen by some as evidence of further establishment corruption. .. Another view was that being 'Sectioned', medicated and with Electroconvulsive 'therapy' was far worse than any prison sentence could ever have been.
was Scissor Bill which appeared in the anarchist paper The Syndicalist from 1952 after Philip Sansom
invited him to provide a regular cartoon. The name of the strip derived from an IWW
name for a bosses' yes-man. From 1960, his cartoons started appearing in such outlets as She, The Daily Mirror
, Private Eye
and The Spectator
. Rooum has had a long relationship, with interruptions, with Peace News
, his first work appearing for them in 1962. Originals of his cartoons for Peace News up to 1971, together with some for The Spectator, are stored at the British Cartoon Archive
.
In 1974, Sansom again invited Rooum to provide a cartoon for a monthly magazine he was working on. This was Wildcat and the request was for a cartoon featuring a character of the same name. Wildcat ceased publishing in 1975 but, by 1980, Sansom had returned to working on Freedom
and persuaded Rooum and the editorial collective to revive the Wildcat comic strip which has been a fixture ever since.
Rooum has drawn the Sprite strip for The Skeptic
magazine since 1987. Books illustrated include Don't you believe it! by John Radford. An exhibition of his work was held at Conway Hall in 2008.
The Challenor Case by Mary Grigg; Harmondsworth 1965 Penguin Books
Report of Enquiry" by Mr A.E.James, QC, 1965 HMSO, Cmnd 2735
The Jester and the Court by Edward Robey; London 1976 William Kimber & Co. Ltd ISBN 0718304942
Tanky Challenor, SAS and the Met by Harold Challoner with Edward Draper, London 1990, Leo Cooper ISBN 0850521426
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
anarchist cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. He has a long association with Freedom Press
Freedom Press
The Freedom Press is an anarchist publishing house in Whitechapel, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1886, it is the largest anarchist publishing house in the nation and the oldest of its kind in the English speaking world. It is based at 84b Whitechapel High Street in the East End of London...
who have published seven volumes of his Wildcat cartoons.
In 1963 he played a key role in exposing Harold Challenor
Harold Challenor
Harold Gordon "Tanky" Challenor, MM was a wartime member of the SAS, decorated for his part in Operation Speedwell. After the war he joined the Metropolitan Police, spending much of his career in CID...
, a corrupt police officer
Police corruption
Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
who tried to frame Rooum. 20 years earlier Challenor had been one of only two of the original six SAS to survive Operation Speedwell
Operation Speedwell
During World War II, Operation Speedwell was an early Special Air Service raid against Italian rail targets near Genoa starting on 7 September 1943. The fourteen-man group split into a number of smaller units to destroy track and ambush trains. The raiders returned to friendly lines by foot after...
in 1943, spending 7 months deep behind German lines.
Biography
Donald Rooum is a native of BradfordBradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
. Rooum registered as a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
.
He was then pressurised by his family to complete two years military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
starting in January 1947. A resettlement grant following this service allowed him to study Commercial Design at Bradford Regional Art School from 1949 to 1953.
Rooums portrait by Frank Lisle is in Wakefield Gallery http://peteashton.com/2008/06/donald_rooum_spotted_in_wakefield/
name=Wakefield>"Portrait of Donald Rooum by Frank Lisle", Object of the Month, April 2008 Wakefield
City of Wakefield
The City of Wakefield is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. Wakefield is the district's administrative centre. The district includes the "Five Towns" of Normanton, Pontefract, Featherstone, Castleford and Knottingley. Other...
Council From 1954 to 1966 he worked as a layout artist and typographer
Typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading , adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters...
in various London advertising agencies, then as a lecturer in Typographic Design at London College of Printing until 1983. Rooum took a degree with the Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
from 1973 to 1979, and was awarded a first class degree in Life Sciences in 1980. He was elected Member of the Institute of Biology
Institute of Biology
The Institute of Biology was a professional body for biologists, primarily those working in the United Kingdom. The Institute was founded in 1950 by the Biological Council: the then umbrella body for Britain's many learned biological societies...
(incorporated into the Society of Biology
Society of Biology
The Society of Biology is a charitable organization in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology. Formed in 2010 by the merger of the Biosciences Federation and the Institute of Biology, the Society has some 10,000 individual members and through its corporate specialist member...
in October 2009) and became a Chartered Biologist in 2004.
Rooum lived with Irene Brown from 1954 to 1983 and they had four children together (Josephine Anne born 1956, Penelope Jane 1958 (died 1960), Mathew Donald 1960, Rebecca Jane 1962).
Activism
Rooum records that he first became interested in anarchism in 1944 when he visited Speaker's Corner in London while on a Ministry of Food scheme which used schoolboys to pick hops in KentKent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. He subscibed to War Commentary beginning a connection with Freedom Press
Freedom Press
The Freedom Press is an anarchist publishing house in Whitechapel, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1886, it is the largest anarchist publishing house in the nation and the oldest of its kind in the English speaking world. It is based at 84b Whitechapel High Street in the East End of London...
which has continued for over 60 years. During that time he has been a writer for and an editor of Freedom, the name to which War Commentary reverted after the end of the Second World War.
In 1949, Rooum began to raise his profile in activist circles, participating the annual Anarchist Summer School. Indeed, when one of his art tutors Frank Lisle painted Rooum's portrait in 1952, the working title for the picture was The Anarchist. Rooum was an outdoor speaker, first in Market Street in Bradford then at Speaker's Corner. He was a founding member of the Malatesta
Errico Malatesta
Errico Malatesta was an Italian anarcho-communist. He was an insurrectionary anarchist early in his life. He spent much of his life exiled from his homeland of Italy and in total spent more than ten years in prison. He wrote and edited a number of radical newspapers and was also a friend of...
Club, an anarchist social club and venue opened in London on May Day
International Workers' Day
International Workers' Day is a celebration of the international labour movement and left-wing movements. It commonly sees organized street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labour unions throughout most of the world. May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries...
1954 where Rooum and Irene were volunteer workers.
In the long-running feud between Vernon Richards
Vernon Richards
Vernon Richards was an Anglo-Italian anarchist, editor, author and companion of Marie-Louise Berneri.He was born Vero Recchioni in London in 1915. He was educated at Emanuel School, and King's College London, where he trained as a civil engineer...
and those associated with Freedom on the one hand, and Albert Meltzer
Albert Meltzer
Albert Meltzer was an anarcho-communist activist and writer.-Early life:Meltzer was born in London, and attracted to anarchism at the age of fifteen as a direct result of taking boxing lessons . The Labour MP for Edmonton, Edith Summerskill was virulently anti-boxing and his school governors at...
and those associated with Black Flag
Black Flag (newspaper)
Black Flag is the name of a number of anarchist periodicals, most notably the British anarchist bi-annual magazine Black Flag, mainly known for its coverage of international anarchist politics as well as supporting "class war" prisoners....
on the other, Rooum's loyalties were with Richards and Freedom.
Role in the Challenor affair
In 1963 Rooum was an Anarchist and member of the National Council of Civil LibertiesLiberty (pressure group)
Liberty is a pressure group based in the United Kingdom. Its formal name is the National Council for Civil Liberties . Founded in 1934 by Ronald Kidd and Sylvia Crowther-Smith , the group campaigns to protect civil liberties and promote human rights...
. He had, by good fortune, read some material on forensic science.
Rooum exposed police corruption
Police corruption
Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
during demonstrations against the London visit by King Paul of Greece
Paul of Greece
Paul reigned as King of Greece from 1947 to 1964.-Family and early life:Paul was born in Athens, the third son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. He was trained as a naval officer....
and Queen Frederika
Frederika of Hanover
Frederica of Hanover was Queen consort of the Hellenes as the wife of King Paul of Greece.-Early life:...
. Rooum proved that an offensive weapon had been planted on him.
On 11 July, Rooum demonstrated against the Royal party at Claridge's
Claridge's
Claridge's is a luxury hotel in Mayfair, central London. It is located at the corner of Brook Street and Davies Street.-History:Claridge's is a traditional grand hotel. Its extensive and old connections with royalty have led to it being referred to as an "extension to Buckingham Palace"...
hotel. His banner "Lambrakis RIP" was confiscated by a police officer and read by four plain clothes men. According to Rooum he asked "Can I have my banner back?"
Rooum:- "This big one with the short-back-and-sides stepped forward. 'Can you have your what back?'
"'My banner.'
"He smiled at me. 'You're fucking nicked, my old beauty,' he said, and gave me a terrific clout on the ear."
At the police station, the arresting officer, Detective Sergeant Harold Challenor
Harold Challenor
Harold Gordon "Tanky" Challenor, MM was a wartime member of the SAS, decorated for his part in Operation Speedwell. After the war he joined the Metropolitan Police, spending much of his career in CID...
, "took from his pocket a screwed-up newspaper, which he opened with a flourish. Inside was a piece of brick. His smile widened. 'There you are, my old beauty. Carrying an offensive weapon. You can get two years for that.'"
Rooum gave his clothes to his defence solicitor Stanley Clinton Davis for analysis. He convinced the magistrate that, because no brick dust was found in his pocket, no brick could have been there at the time of the alleged offence. There followed a public enquiry that criticized the police and led to the imprisonment of three officers. Rooum received £500 compensation (£7,900 at 2011 value) and other convictions were overturned.
Challenor was deemed mentally unfit to plead and was committed to Netherne mental hospital. A subsequent enquiry found that he had probably been suffering from the onset of paranoid schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
for some months before the incident.
The lack of any successful prosecution against him was seen by some as evidence of further establishment corruption. .. Another view was that being 'Sectioned', medicated and with Electroconvulsive 'therapy' was far worse than any prison sentence could ever have been.
Cartoonist
Rooum's first regular comic stripComic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
was Scissor Bill which appeared in the anarchist paper The Syndicalist from 1952 after Philip Sansom
Philip Sansom
Philip Richard Sansom was an anarchist writer and activist.Sansom began working life as a commercial artist. During the Second World War he was a conscientious objector, and worked in farming for a while. From 1943 he worked on War Commentary, a wartime substitute for the anarchist paper Freedom...
invited him to provide a regular cartoon. The name of the strip derived from an IWW
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
name for a bosses' yes-man. From 1960, his cartoons started appearing in such outlets as She, The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror is a British national daily tabloid newspaper which was founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is often referred to in popular parlance. It had an...
, Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
and The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
. Rooum has had a long relationship, with interruptions, with Peace News
Peace News
Peace News 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 , and from 1990 to 2004 was co-published with War Resisters' International.-History:Peace News was...
, his first work appearing for them in 1962. Originals of his cartoons for Peace News up to 1971, together with some for The Spectator, are stored at the British Cartoon Archive
British Cartoon Archive
The British Cartoon Archive is a department of the University of Kent, at Canterbury in the United Kingdom, and holds the national collection of political and social-comment cartoons from British newspapers and magazines...
.
In 1974, Sansom again invited Rooum to provide a cartoon for a monthly magazine he was working on. This was Wildcat and the request was for a cartoon featuring a character of the same name. Wildcat ceased publishing in 1975 but, by 1980, Sansom had returned to working on Freedom
Freedom newspaper
Freedom is a London-based anarchist newspaper published fortnightly by Freedom Press.The paper was started in 1886 by volunteers including Peter Kropotkin and Charlotte Wilson and continues to this day as an unpaid project. Originally, the subtitle was "A Journal of Anarchist Socialism." The title...
and persuaded Rooum and the editorial collective to revive the Wildcat comic strip which has been a fixture ever since.
Rooum has drawn the Sprite strip for The Skeptic
The Skeptic (UK magazine)
The Skeptic is a British magazine and is billed as "the UK’s longest running and foremost sceptical magazine, which examines science, scepticism, secularism, critical thinking and claims of the paranormal."-History, format and structure:...
magazine since 1987. Books illustrated include Don't you believe it! by John Radford. An exhibition of his work was held at Conway Hall in 2008.
As author and cartoonist
- Wildcat Anarchist Comics, 1985, London, Freedom Press, ISBN 0900384301
- "Gandalf's Garden" in: Outrageous Tales from the Old Testament ed: Tony Bennett, 1987, London, Knockabout ComicsKnockabout ComicsKnockabout Comics is a UK publisher and distributor of underground and alternative comic books.-History:It was formed by Tony Bennett and Carol Bennett in the 1980s to distribute Gilbert Shelton's Freak Brothers titles as well as British work from creators such as Hunt Emerson and Bryan...
, ISBN 0861660544 - Wildcat Strikes Again, 1989, London, Freedom Press, ISBN 0900384476
- Wildcat: ABC of Bosses,1991, London, Freedom Press, ISBN 0900384603
- Health Service Wildcat, 1994, London, Freedom Press, ISBN 0900384735
- Twenty Year Millennium Wildcat: Anarchist Comics 1999, London, Freedom Press, ISBN 0900384972
- Wildcat: Anarchists Against Bombs, 2003, London, Freedom Press, ISBN 1904491014
- Wildcat Keeps Going, 2011, London, Freedom Press, ISBN 9781904491149
As writer
- "Sir Cyril BurtCyril BurtSir Cyril Lodowic Burt was an English educational psychologist who made contributions to educational psychology and statistics....
and typographyTypographyTypography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading , adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters...
: a re-evaluation" James Hartley and Donald Rooum 1983 British Journal of Psychology 74, 203-212 - "Karl von FrischKarl von FrischKarl Ritter von Frisch was an Austrian ethologist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973, along with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz....
and the 'Spot Codes' for marking insects". 1989, Bee World 70:120-126 - What Is Anarchism?: An Introduction, London, Freedom Press, ISBN 0900384662
- Introduction to Mutual Aid: A Factor of EvolutionMutual Aid: A Factor of EvolutionMutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution is a book by Peter Kropotkin on the subject of mutual aid, written while he was living in exile in England. It was first published by William Heinemann in London in October 1902...
(4th Edition) by Peter KropotkinPeter KropotkinPrince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin was a Russian zoologist, evolutionary theorist, philosopher, economist, geographer, author and one of the world's foremost anarcho-communists. Kropotkin advocated a communist society free from central government and based on voluntary associations between...
London, Freedom Press, 2009 ISBN 1904491103
As illustrator
- Classics of Humour (Dickens, Charles; O'Brien, Flann; Saki; Thurber, James; Twain, Mark; Waugh, Evelyn; Wilde, Oscar, Wodehouse, P G, et al., authors); O'Mara, Michael (ed), Donald Rooum (Illustrator) 1976 Book Club Associates ASIN B0010S72HK, 1976 Constable and Company ISBN 0094614407
- English Lessons One Michael Hapgood (author), Donald Rooum (illustrator); 1981 Heinemann Educational Books ISBN 0435104004
- The innocent Anthropologist by Nigel Barley (author), Donald Rooum (illustrator); 1983 British Museum Publications !SBN 0714180548
- Don't You Believe It!: Some Things Everyone Knows That Actually Ain't So by John Radford (Author), Donald Rooum (Illustrator), London 2007, Stepney Green Press, ISBN 0955443105
- Citizenship Cartoons (2003) by Alastair Gunn (Author), Donald Rooum (Author) Classroom Resources ISBN 184106789X
As editor
- "Freedom": A Hundred Years, October 1886-October 1986 London, Freedom Press, 1986 ISBN 0900384352
- March to Death: Drawings By John Olday, London, Freedom Press, 1995 ISBN 0900384808
External links
- Sybil's Nest - A page containing examples and details of how to get Wildcat books.
- Cartoons placed online by the British Cartoon Archive
- Portrait of Rooum by Frank Lisle.
The Challenor Case by Mary Grigg; Harmondsworth 1965 Penguin Books
Report of Enquiry" by Mr A.E.James, QC, 1965 HMSO, Cmnd 2735
The Jester and the Court by Edward Robey; London 1976 William Kimber & Co. Ltd ISBN 0718304942
Tanky Challenor, SAS and the Met by Harold Challoner with Edward Draper, London 1990, Leo Cooper ISBN 0850521426