Maria Dickin

Maria Elisabeth Dickin CBE (nickname, Mia; 22 September 1870 – 1 March 1951) was a social reformer[1] and an animal welfare pioneer who founded the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) in 1917. The Dickin Medal is named for her.

Maria Dickin
Born
Maria Elisabeth Dickin

(1870-09-22)September 22, 1870
South Hackney, Middlesex
DiedMarch 1, 1951(1951-03-01) (aged 80)
London
NationalityBritish
Other namesMia
OccupationSocial reformer, animal welfare pioneer

Early life

Maria Dickin was born in 1870 in South Hackney, Middlesex, the oldest of eight children born to William George Dickin, a Wesleyan minister, and Ellen Maria Exell Dickin.[2]

Career

Dickin taught singing as a young woman, and in 1905 compiled and published Suggestive Thoughts from the Temple (1905), a collection of sayings by London minister Reginald John Campbell.[2]

She founded the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) in 1917, in a cellar in Whitechapel.[2] The sign on the door reflected Dickin's intent, to provide humane veterinary care to pets whose owners could not otherwise afford it: "Bring your sick animals/Do not let them suffer/All animals treated/All treatment free". In 1921, she added a horse-drawn mobile unit, to treat more animals and bring public health education to other neighborhoods; this was the first of a fleet of travelling veterinary clinics. She opened a rest home for horses and donkeys in 1928, and in 1929, she began Busy Bees, a children's club focused on animal welfare.[3]

Dickin was awarded an OBE in 1929, and raised to a CBE in 1948.[2] During World War II, she launched the PDSA medal, for animal heroism in the war effort.[4] In 1950, she published a memoir, The Cry of the Animal.[5]

Dickin, whose efforts depended more on the work of amateur volunteers than trained veterinarians, was opposed by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons as "dangerous". "If you are so concerned about the proper treatment of Sick Animals of the Poor," she responded to the professional association's criticisms, "Do the same work we are doing. Instead of spending your energy and time in hindering us, spend it in dealing with this mass of misery."[6]

Blue Plaque at Dickin's birthplace in Hackney.

Personal life and legacy

Dickin married her first cousin, Arnold Francis Dickin, an accountant, in 1899; they had no children. Dickin died in London in 1951 of influenzal broncho-pneumonia, aged 80 years.[2]

The PDSA medal is now known as the Dickin Medal, and is considered the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross.[7][8][9] A commemorative blue plaque was erected by English Heritage at Dickin's birthplace, 41 Cassland Road (formerly 1 Farringdon Terrace) in Hackney in October 2015.[10]

References
  1. Long, David (14 March 2013). Animal Heroes: Inspiring true stories of courageous animals. Random House. pp. 12–. ISBN 978-1-4481-6516-2.
  2. Brian Harrison, ‘Dickin, Maria Elisabeth (1870–1951)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2010 accessed 2 Aug 2011
  3. "PDSA: Our history". PDSA. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  4. "Animals at war: The PDSA Dickin Medal". The History Press. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  5. Homren, Wayne. "MARIA DICKIN AND THE DICKIN MEDAL". The E-Sylum (The Numismatic Bibliomania Society). Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  6. Gardiner, A. (2014-08-01). "The 'Dangerous' Women of Animal Welfare: How British Veterinary Medicine Went to the Dogs". Social History of Medicine. 27 (3): 466–487. doi:10.1093/shm/hkt101. ISSN 0951-631X. PMC 4109695. PMID 25067889.
  7. "Maria Dickin". London Remembers. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  8. Johnson, Ben. "The Dickin Medal". Historic UK. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  9. Hawthorne, Peter (2013-08-30). The Animal Victoria Cross: The Dickin Medal. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-78303-194-8.
  10. "Blue plaque for animal welfare campaigner, Maria Dickin". News. English Heritage. 2015-10-08. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
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