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Jessie (Janet) Dickie (1848–1930)

by Chris Cunneen

This article was published:

Dickie, Jessie (Janet), née Clark (1848-1930) suffragist, temperance advocate and Labor activist

Birth: 1848 in Crathie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, son of James Clark, miller, and Elizabeth. Marriage: 25 March 1870 at Logie-Coldstone, Aberdeen, to John Dickie (1848-1928), railway guard. They had three sons and two daughters. Death: 31 March 1930 at Newtown, Sydney. Religion: Presbyterian. 

  • Arrived in Sydney aboard the Northampton with husband and three eldest children on 9 January 1880. Husband worked as railway guard. She was a life member of the Women’s Christian Association and a member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.
  • A foundation member in 1891 of the Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales in Sydney, she was later vice-president until 1905.
  • In 1901 was one of the Labor women in the Suffrage League who formed a Woman’s Progressive Association, to educate women as to the value of the vote.
  • Returned with her husband for a visit to Great Britain in 1912.
  • A strong supporter of the Australian Labor Party.
  • 1912 Appointed to Royal Commission on Food Supply.
  • In 1914 appointed to the Baby Clinics, Pre-maternity and Home Nursing Board chaired by (Sir) Charles Percy Clubbe.
  • Cause of death stomach cancer.

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Citation details

Chris Cunneen, 'Dickie, Jessie (Janet) (1848–1930)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/dickie-jessie-janet-32448/text40245, accessed 15 March 2025.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Alternative Names
  • Clark, Jessie
Birth

1848
Crathie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Death

31 March, 1930 (aged ~ 82)
Newtown, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Cause of Death

cancer (stomach)

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

Religious Influence

Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.

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Occupation or Descriptor
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Political Activism