J ohn Lilburne Research Institute is a privately funded think tank specializing in investigative journalism for the creation of academic research, articles, recordings, and books. Its work is related to the study of constitutional law from the perspective of studies focused upon the foundational ideas of Freeborn John Lilburne; his relative President Thomas Jefferson, and the legal interpretations of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black. From 1947 onwards, the legal opinions of Black were linked to the pioneering legal life of John Lilburne, who Hugo Black credited as the ultimate source of inspiration for the United States Constitution.

This Institute was initially inspired by Don Pierson and the creation of his Wonderful Radio London; Swinging Radio England and Britain Radio during the period of 1964-1967. These were three offshore broadcasting stations directed towards British listeners deriving basic financing from Texas investors with creativity inspired by Gordon McLendon of Dallas. The Pierson ship-based radio stations challenged the broadcasting laws of the United Kingdom in much the same way in which 'Freeborn John' Lilburne had become an unlicensed publisher. Due to the manner in which Pierson's radio stations operated, his broadcasting activities were politically branded by the British Establishment as 'pirate stations'. If that terminology had been applied to John Lilburne during his day, he would have likewise been branded a 'pirate printer' and 'pirate publisher'.

Day-to-day financing for most of the offshore stations which operated between 1965 and 1967 came from airtime sold to Herbert W. Armstrong and his radio program called 'The World Tomorrow'. This daily half-hour broadcast, sometimes heard three times a day had geopolitical ties to interests advanced by the Central Intelligence Agency which operated from an office in Paris, France. Through its academic 'Encounter' magazine, the CIA promoted the commercial unification of a United Europe, and via the medium of Armstrong's broadcasts and related publications, it opposed the creation of a unified political and military establishment under the control of a federal United States of Europe.

The John Lilburne Research Institute began in 1985 as an offshoot of an organization that had been involved with Don Pierson and the rebirth of Wonderful Radio London. In the aftermath of that frustrated undertaking, research into the origins of modern copyright control of mass media in the United Kingdom, led its founders to focus upon a single thread which began with the published works of US Supreme Court Justice Hugo L Black. He introduced the founding members of this Institute to John Lilburne as the real father of the United States Constitution. After 1947, Hugo Black began to reinterpret his own life work as a continuation of the work begun by John Lilburne. While Thomas Jefferson was related to John Lilburne, and his family members openly associated themselves with the Lilburne name, President Jefferson does not appear to have acknowledged John Lilburne as the ultimate source of his own ideas.

Since the year 2000, the same thread that the John Lilburne Institute began to follow in 1985, has now resulted in a wide variety of documented findings which are currently being published in various academic journals and other media. The Institute is continuing with its research by following the original thread, to wherever it may lead. For a more detailed explanation about the John Lilburne Research Institute, please use the INTRODUCTION button to the right.