Under the influence of their eldest brother, Alfred, Housman and his siblings enjoyed many creative pastimes amongst themselves, including poetry competitions, theatrical performances and a family magazine.

[3] The Housmans suffered increasing financial distress as Edward’s business floundered and he succumbed to drinking and illnesses.

[4] He first worked with London publishers by illustrating such works as George Meredith's Jump to Glory Jane (1892), Jonas Lie's Weird Tales (1892), Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market (1893), Jane Barlow's The End of Elfintown (1894) and his sister's novella The Were-Wolf (1896)[5][6] in an intricate Art Nouveau style.

[9] Some of Housman's plays were scandalous for depicting biblical characters and living members of the Royal House on stage, and many of them were performed only privately until the subsequent relaxation of theatrical censorship.

[10] Housman also wrote children's fairy tales such as A Farm in Fairyland (1894) and fantasy stories with Christian undertones for adults, such as All-Fellows (1896), The Cloak of Friendship (1905), and Gods and Their Makers (1897).

[11] A prolific writer with around a hundred published works to his name, his output eventually covered all kinds of literature from socialist and pacifist pamphlets to children's stories.

[16] Additionally, work such as embroidery, which was known to be domestic, was utilized to propel a political movement and allowed women to earn money.

[16] Along with housing the Suffrage Atelier studio, it additionally held educational classes to help women explore their feminist identities, bringing in public speakers and hosting writing lessons.

[16] The Anti-Suffrage Alphabet was a book designed by Housman that incorporated illustrations from several women, including Alice B. Woodward and Pamela Colman Smith,[17] which worked to raise funds for the suffrage campaign.

[21] The movement was advertised by Housman through a series of articles published in The Vote, in which he argued for the reasoning and tactical benefits of the proposal.

I could not feel that any social or religious system, which so sedulously refused to tell and to face the truth, deserved respect; and though for a while I still conformed, it was without heart or conviction.

To do so, he joined an organization called the Order of Chaeronea which was a secret society that worked to gain homosexuals social recognition.

[27] In 1945 he opened Housmans Bookshop in Shaftesbury Avenue, London, founded in his honour by the Peace Pledge Union, of which he was a sponsor.

In 1959, shortly after his death, the shop moved to Caledonian Road, where it is still a source of literature on pacifism and other radical approaches to living.

[28] After World War I, Laurence and Clemence left their Kensington home and moved to the holiday cottage which they had previously rented in the village of Ashley in Hampshire.

[32] His name and picture (and those of 58 other women's suffrage supporters) are on the plinth of the statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, London, unveiled in 2018.

[36] The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas holds an archive of Housman's material which includes manuscripts and correspondence.