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.

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

    Biography

    Lady Dowding was born in London, the daughter of John Angelo Albino (whose family came from the Province of Como, Italy) and his wife Hilda Gertrude Albino (née Barnes).

    Like her second husband Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding,[1] she was a vegetarian,[2] an anti-vivisectionist, spiritualist and Theosophist.[3][4]

    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.[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 26 June 2020.
    2. Piccioni, Joseph (2 December 1993). "Obituary: Muriel Dowding". The Independent. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
    3. "Lady Dowding & the History of BWC". Vegetarian Women Online Magazine. Archived from the original on 21 April 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
    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 26 June 2020.
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