Leslie Allen Paul was an Anglo-Irish writer and founder of the Woodcraft Folk.

Life

Born in Dublin in April 1905, Leslie Paul grew up in South East London. After the World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 he became deeply involved with scouting

Scouting

Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....

 and related youth movements.

He left the Scouts to join the Kibbo Kift Kindred but after a dispute with the Kibbo Kift

Kibbo Kift

The Kindred of the Kibbo Kift was a youth organisation in England from 1920 to 1951.-Origins:The organisation was founded by the charismatic Englishman John Hargrave , artist, author and Boy Scout Commissioner for Woodcraft and Camping, who had become disenchanted with the increasingly militaristic...

 leader, John Hargrave

John Hargrave

John Gordon Hargrave , nicknamed 'White Fox', was one of the leading figures in the Social Credit movement in British politics.-Early life:...

 in 1925, some south London co-operative groups challenged Hargrave's authoritarian tendencies. The dispute was over his refusal to recognise a local group called "The Brockleything". The result was a split, and a group, including Paul, broke away from the Kindred, to form the Woodcraft Folk which remains active in 2011. Paul was appinted leader of the Woodcraft Folk and later came to be identified as its' founder (although in fact the organisation was the work of a number of people, Paul was its most eloquent member and was usually called upon to represent it to outside bodies).

After the Second World War Paul became an active member of the Church of England (leading to his moving away from the radically orientated Woodcraft Folk) and later a professional clergyman. His most significant act within the Church was the production of the Paul Report into the payment of the clergy, which led to extensive modernisation of the Church's organisational structure.

Works

"The Folk Trail" Woodcraft Folk leaders manual. ?1928

In 1951 he wrote an autobiography called "Angry Young Man". The title became the catch phrase angry young men

Angry young men

The "angry young men" were a group of mostly working and middle class British playwrights and novelists who became prominent in the 1950s. The group's leading members included John Osborne and Kingsley Amis.The phrase was originally coined by the Royal Court Theatre's press officer to promote John...

 subsequently used to describe a generation of British writers, including Kingsley Amis

Kingsley Amis

Sir Kingsley William Amis, CBE was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, various short stories, radio and television scripts, along with works of social and literary criticism...

, Colin Wilson

Colin Wilson

Colin Henry Wilson is a prolific English writer who first came to prominence as a philosopher and novelist. Wilson has since written widely on true crime, mysticism and other topics. He prefers calling his philosophy new existentialism or phenomenological existentialism.- Early biography:Born and...

 and (over-broadly) applied to authors of the "kitchen sink dramas".

"The Early Days of the Woodcraft Folk" historical panphlet (undated, believed written between 1975 and 1980)