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
Spouses
Jack Maxwell Whiting
​
​
(m. 1935; died 1944)​
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1951; died 1970)​
    Children1

    Muriel Dowding, Baroness Dowding (née Albino; other married name Whiting; 22 March 1908 – 20 November 1993) was an English humanitarian and animal rights activist known for championing anti-vivisection, improvement of animal welfare and vegetarianism.[1][2]

    Biography

    Lady Dowding was born in Paddington, the daughter of John Angelo Albino (whose family came from the Province of Como, Italy) and his wife Hilda Gertrude Albino (née Barnes). Her first husband, Jack Maxwell Whiting, went missing in action during World War II in Denmark.[3] She contacted Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding about her husband's mission. They later married.[3]

    Influenced by her mother a spiritualist, Lady Dowding became a member of the theosophist lodge in Tunbridge Wells and was also a member of the White Eagle Lodge.[3] Like her second husband Lord Dowding,[4] she was a vegetarian,[5] an anti-vivisectionist, spiritualist and Theosophist.[6][7]

    Lady Dowding used her prominent social position to advance animal welfare. She hosted regular Sunday lunch parties introducing influential people to vegetarian food, and her house was a sanctuary for animals in need.[5] In 1959, she founded Beauty Without Cruelty (BWC)[5] to highlight the suffering of animals. She was vice-president of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).[5]

    She was a President of the National Anti-Vivisection Society.[1] In 1969, she cofounded the International Association against Painful Experiments on Animals (IAAPEA).[1]

    Lady Dowding died in 1993 and her ashes were buried with her second husband in Westminster Abbey.[8]

    Publications

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

    See also

    References

    1. 1 2 3 Bekoff, Marc. (1998). Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare. Greenwood Press. p. 139. ISBN 0-313-299-77-3
    2. ↑ "Muriel Dowding's Work for Animal Rights". livingcrueltyfree.gr. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
    3. 1 2 3 "Muriel Dowding, Baroness Dowding". oxforddnb.com.
    4. ↑ "Lord Dowding (1882-1970) Lady Dowding (1908-1993)". International Vegetarian Union. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
    5. 1 2 3 4 Piccioni, Joseph (2 December 1993). "Obituary: Muriel Dowding". The Independent. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
    6. ↑ "Lady Dowding & the History of BWC". Vegetarian Women Online Magazine. Archived from the original on 21 April 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
    7. ↑ Kean, Hilda (1998). Animal Rights: Political and Social Change in Britain Since 1800. London: Reaktion Books. p. 198. ISBN 978-1-86189-014-6.
    8. ↑ "Hugh & Muriel Dowding". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
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