Maria Elisabeth Dickin

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(nickname Mia; 22 September 1870 – 1 March 1951) was a social reformer and an

animal welfare Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...

pioneer who founded the

People's Dispensary for Sick Animals The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) is the UK's leading veterinary Charitable organization, charity, carrying out more than one million free veterinary consultations a year. It was founded in 1917 by Maria Dickin to provide care f ...

(PDSA) in 1917. The

Dickin Medal The PDSA Dickin Medal was instituted in 1943 in the United Kingdom by Maria Dickin to honour the work of animals in World War II. It is a bronze medallion, bearing the words "For Gallantry" and "We Also Serve" within a laurel wreath, carried ...

is named for her.

Early life

Maria Dickin was born in 1870 in South Hackney,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

(now in the

London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street, which lies north-east of Charing Cross. The borough is named after Hackney, Lond ...

, the oldest of eight children born to William George Dickin, a

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

minister, and Ellen Maria Exell Dickin.

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. She founded the

(PDSA) in 1917, in a cellar in

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

. 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. Dickin was appointed

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1929, and became a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1948. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she launched the PDSA medal, for animal heroism in the war effort. In 1950, she published a memoir, ''The Cry of the Animal.'' Dickin, whose efforts depended more on the work of amateur volunteers than trained veterinarians, was opposed by the

Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom, established in 1844 by royal charter. It is responsible for monitoring the educational, ethical and clinical standards of the ...

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."

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. The PDSA medal is now known as the

, and is considered the animal equivalent of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

. A commemorative

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

was erected by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

at Dickin's birthplace, 41 Cassland Road (formerly 1 Farringdon Terrace) in Hackney in October 2015.

References

External links

PDSA page
*Maria Dickin
"Animals in Tangier"
(7 November 1935), a letter to the editors of the ''Guardian'', about the PDSA's clinic in Tangier. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickin, Maria 1870 births 1951 deaths 20th-century British women philanthropists British animal welfare workers British social reformers British women in World War II Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English women philanthropists Founders of charities People from Hackney, London Philanthropists from London Respiratory disease deaths in England