John Collins

Who was John Collins?

John Collins was an Anglican priest who was active in several radical political movements in the United Kingdom.

Educated at Cranbrook School, Kent and the University of Cambridge, Collins served as a chaplain in the Royal Air Force during World War II and was radicalised by the experience. In 1946, he founded the organization Christian Action to work for reconciliation with Germany. He was appointed as a canon of St Paul's Cathedral, London in 1948, an office he held for 33 years. Shortly afterwards he became disturbed by the newly developing apartheid system in South Africa.

In 1951, Collins was one of the four founders of the charity War on Want which fights global poverty. In 1956, he committed Christian Action to raising funds for the defence of anti-apartheid activists accused of treason in South Africa and this gave rise to the Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa. The fund raised over £75,000 to help defend the accused during the Treason Trial

Collins was strongly opposed to the spread of nuclear weapons and was one of many on the left in Britain who believed that it was unnecessary and wrong for Britain to own such weapons. He was one of the founders of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. He was also a member of the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, working with the Reverend Sidney Hinkes on anti-nuclear campaigns.