Muriel Dowding, Baroness Dowding

Muriel Dowding, Baroness Dowding (née Albino; other married name Whiting; 22 March 1908 – 20 November 1993) was an English animal rights activist. Like her second husband Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding,[1] she was a vegetarian,[2] an anti-vivisectionist, spiritualist and Theosophist.[3][4]

Muriel Dowding, Baroness Dowding
Muriel Dowding, in 1953, in her fake fur robes for the coronation of Elizabeth II
Born
Muriel Albino

(1908-03-22)22 March 1908
London, England
Died20 November 1993(1993-11-20) (aged 85)
Hove, England
OccupationAnimal rights activist
Spouse(s)
Jack Maxwell Whiting
​
​
(m. 1935; died 1944)​

​
​
(m. 1951; died 1970)​
Children1

She was well known in Britain for her work as an animal rights campaigner. Lady Dowding used her prominent social position to advance animal welfare without seeking any personal gain or reward. She hosted regular Sunday lunch parties introducing influential people to vegetarian food, and her house was always a sanctuary for animals in need.[2] In 1959, she founded Beauty Without Cruelty (BWC)[2] to highlight the suffering of animals. She won several awards from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).

Lady Dowding died in 1993 and her ashes were buried with her second husband in Westminster Abbey.[5]

Publications
  • The Psychic Life of Muriel, the Lady Dowding: An Autobiography (1980) [Foreword by Victor Goddard]

See also

References
  1. "Lord Dowding (1882-1970) Lady Dowding (1908-1993)". International Vegetarian Union. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  2. Piccioni, Joseph (1993-12-02). "Obituary: Muriel Dowding". The Independent. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  3. "Lady Dowding & the History of BWC". Vegetarian Women Online Magazine. Archived from the original on 2011-04-21. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  4. Kean, Hilda (1998). Animal Rights: Political and Social Change in Britain Since 1800. London: Reaktion Books. p. 198. ISBN 978-1-86189-014-6.
  5. "Hugh & Muriel Dowding". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 2020-06-26.


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