Rhaune Laslett

Rhaune Laslett (15 April 1919 – 28 April 2002) was a community activist and the principal organiser of the Notting Hill Fayre or Festival, that evolved into the Notting Hill Carnival. As Gary Younge has written, Laslett "spoke to the local police about organising a carnival early in 1965. With more of an English fete in mind, she invited the various ethnic groups of what was then the poor area of Notting Hill - Ukrainians, Spanish, Portuguese, Irish, Caribbeans and Africans - to contribute to a week-long event that would culminate with an August bank holiday parade....She borrowed costumes from Madame Tussaud's; a local hairdresser did the hair and make-up for nothing; the gas board and fire brigade had floats; and stallholders in Portobello market donated horses and carts. Around 1,000 people turned up, according to police figures."

Biography

Rhaune Laslett was born in the East End of London to a Native American mother from North Carolina and a Russian father.

In 1947 she married an Australian artist and was divorced five years later. In 1960 she was a matron of the Pixie Hollow home in Grove Road Ramsgate, Kent.