Jessey Wade

Jessey Wade (2 December 1859 – 1952) was an English suffragist and campaigner for animal welfare, known for founding the Cats Protection League (now known as Cats Protection). She co-founded a number of other animal welfare organisations and helped create and was editor of the feminist journal Urania.

Jessey Wade
The Animals' Friend Cat Book mentions an office cat called Tibby and he is depicted in an illustration alongside a writer/illustrator who is potentially Jessey Wade.
Born(1859-12-02)2 December 1859
Westminster, London
Died1952 (aged 92)
NationalityBritish
Known forAnimal welfare advocacy
Founding the Cats Protection League

Life and work

Wade was friends with fellow animal welfare campaigner Ernest Bell and worked for him as a personal secretary until his death in 1933. Bell edited the journal The Animals' Friend and Wade became editor, after Edith Carrington, of its sister journal intended for children, The Little Animals' Friend;[1] she also edited the Cats Protection League's journal The Cats' Mews-Sheet.[2]

Wade was Honorary Secretary of the Children’s Department for the Humanitarian League, from 1906 until 1919.[3]

In 1916, she co-founded Urania, a journal which formed part of a campaign to erase all distinctions based on gender.[4]

In 1927, Wade was the organiser of a meeting in Caxton Hall, London, which established the Cats Protection League.[5] In the same year, Wade co-founded, with Ernest Bell and John Galsworthy, the League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports and in 1932, the National Society for the Abolition of Cruel Sports.[3] She was also a member of the Women's Freedom League, Pit Ponies' Protection Society, Performing and Captive Animals' Defence League.[1]

In 1935, she gave a speech for the Humane Education Society in Manchester.[6]

In 1948, she retired from editing The Little Animals' Friend, after having worked on it for 50 years.[7]

Wade died in 1952, aged 92.[8]

Contributions to animal organisations
Ernest Bell and Jessey Wade's banner for The Animals' Friend, parading through London in 1909, during the Anti-Vivisection International Congress.

Wade founded and made significant contributions to a number of animal advocacy organisations:[3][9]

  • Humanitarian League (Honorary Secretary of the Children’s Department from 1906 until 1919)
  • Pit Ponies' Protection Society (active member)
  • Performing and Captive Animals' Defence League (co-founder with Ernest Bell and John Galsworthy)
  • Performing and Captive Animals' Defence League (co-founder with Ernest Bell and John Galsworthy)
  • League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports (now known as the League Against Cruel Sports; co-founder with Ernest Bell and John Galsworthy)
  • National Society for the Abolition of Cruel Sports (co-founder with Ernest Bell and John Galsworthy)
  • Cats Protection League (now known as Cats Protection; co-founder)
  • Humane Education Society (Vice-President of the Council for Protection of Animals)

Publications
  • Cruelties in Dress (London: Animals' Friend Society, 1912)
  • The Animals' Friend Cat Book (London: G. Bell and Sons, 1917)

References
  1. "Meet Cats Protection founder Jessey Wade". Meow! Blog. 2019-03-08. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  2. "Our History". Cats Protection. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  3. Edmundson, John (2013-11-14). "The Brown Linties by Jessey Wade". HappyCow. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  4. Tiernan, Sonja (2013). "Radical sexual politics and post-war religion". Eva Gore-Booth: An Image of Such Politics. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-84779-509-0.
  5. Hankins, Justine (2002-05-04). "In a league of their own". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  6. "Protection of Animals". The Manchester Guardian. 1934-11-26. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  7. "A Friend of Animals". The Children's Newspaper. 1948-02-21. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  8. "Ninety years of dedication to cats". Cats Protection. 2017-05-16. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  9. The Humane Education Society Council for Protection of Animals: The Future is with the Children and Kind Hearted People (PDF). 1935. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
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