Hilary Pepler

Harry Douglas Clark Pepler (1878–1951), known as Hilary Pepler, was an English printer, writer and poet. He was an associate of both Eric Gill and G. K. Chesterton, working on publications in which they had an interest. He was also a founder with Gill and Desmond Chute in 1920 of a Catholic community of craftsmen at Ditchling, Sussex, that took the name The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic.

His background was Quaker. He was born at Eastbourne and educated at Bootham School. He met Gill in Hammersmith, London, during World War I, through the Hampshire House Workshops. At that time Pepler was a social worker for the London County Council, and organised the first London school meals service. Pepler and Gill were together mostly responsible for the Ditchling house magazine, The Game.

He founded in 1915 or 1916 the St. Dominic's Press. It published, amongst other books, important editions for the Ulysses Bookshop in High Holborn, London, owned by Jacob Schwartz, to 1937. These included works of James Joyce (in fact pirate editions), but also George Bernard Shaw, John Drinkwater, Augustus John, Chesterton and John Collier.

He became a Roman Catholic convert in 1916; and joined the Dominicans as a lay member in 1918. At that time he changed his name to Hilary. Financial quarrels between Pepler and Gill may have led to Gill leaving the Ditchling group in 1924. Pepler was forced to leave the Guild in 1934.

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