Nina Mary Benita Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton (née Nina Mary Benita Poore; 13 May 1878 – 12 January 1951) was a British peeress and

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 ...

activist. She campaigned for humane slaughter.

Early life

Douglas-Hamilton was born on 13 May 1878 in

Nether Wallop Nether Wallop is a village and civil parish in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England, northwest of Stockbridge, and southwest of Andover. Nether Wallop is the easternmost of the three villages collectively known as The Wallops, the ...

, Hampshire. She was the youngest daughter of Major Robert Poore and Juliana Benita Lowry-Corry; her mother was a daughter of Rear Admiral

Armar Lowry Corry Rear Admiral Armar Lowry Corry (1793 – 1 May 1855, in Paris) was a British naval officer. Naval career Corry entered the Royal Navy on 1 August 1805, became a Lieutenant on 28 April 1812, a Commander on 13 June 1815, and Captain on 23 July 18 ...

Personal life

Three years after her brother, Major

Robert Poore Brigadier-General Robert Montagu Poore, (20 March 1866 – 14 July 1938) was an Anglo-Irish cricketer and British Army officer who, while serving in South Africa in 1896, played in three Test matches for the South African cricket team. He fe ...

, married Flora Douglas-Hamilton, on 4 December 1901 Nina married Flora's brother Alfred Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton, at the parish church of Newton Tony, Wiltshire, not far from her parents' home at Winterslow. Together, they were the parents of four sons and three daughters: *

Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton Air Commodore Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton and 11th Duke of Brandon, (3 February 1903 – 30 March 1973) was a Scottish aristocrat, politician, and aviator. He was the first man to fly over Mount Everest. When Rudolf Hess, t ...

* Lady Jean Douglas-Hamilton *

George Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk Group Captain George Nigel "Geordie" Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk, (4 January 1906 – 24 November 1994) was a British nobleman and Conservative politician. Early life Born at Merly, Wimborne, Dorset, he was the second son of Nina ...

* Lady Margaret Douglas-Hamilton *

Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton Wing Commander Lord Malcolm Avondale Douglas-Hamilton, (12 November 1909 – 21 July 1964) was a Scottish aristocrat, aviator and politician. He also drove in the 1935 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving an Aston Martin Ulster owned by principal dri ...

* Lord David Douglas-Hamilton * Lady Mairi Nina Douglas-Hamilton Douglas-Hamilton was very proud of her father's work in helping agricultural labourers at Winterslow and was philanthropic towards the group, but kept her gifts secret from all but the recipients. Another gift was sufficient to completely equip and furnish a home for nurses at

Bo'ness Borrowstounness, commonly known as Bo'ness ( ), is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Counties of Scotland, Historically part of the county of West Lothian (historic), ...

, West Lothian. She was a member of the

Spiritualists' National Union The Spiritualists' National Union (SNU) is a Spiritualism (movement), Spiritualist organisation, founded in the United Kingdom in 1901, and is one of the largest Spiritualist groups in the world. Its motto is ''Light, Nature, Truth''. Over its hi ...

Animal welfare

Duchess of Hamilton was a co-founder in 1906 of the Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society, with

Lizzy Lind af Hageby Emilie Augusta Louise "Lizzy" Lind af Hageby (20 September 1878 – 26 December 1963) was a Swedish-British feminist and animal rights advocate who became a prominent anti-vivisection activist in England in the early 20th century. Born t ...

, a society which set up three veterinary hospitals for horses during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and campaigned against cruelty to animals including the use of animals in war. In 1912, she became a founder of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Vivisection, which went on to become

Advocates for Animals OneKind is a campaigning 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 ac ...

. She also established Ferne Animal Sanctuary, at Ferne House in Dorset, the estate she and her husband owned. She compiled an illustrated book related to the sanctuary called ''Chronicles of Ferne'', published in 1951. At the beginning of the

Second World War 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 opposed pet-culling that was being encouraged by civil defence authorities, that led to what became known as the " British pet massacre" in 1939 and 1940, and caused her to shelter many cats at Ferne. Douglas-Hamilton was an advocate of humane slaughter. She campaigned for "human killers" and opposed the use of the knife and

poleaxe The poleaxe (also poleax, pollaxe and other similar spellings) is a European polearm that was used by medieval infantry. Etymology Most etymological authorities consider the ''poll''- prefix historically unrelated to "pole", instead meaning " ...

in the slaughterhouse. In 1925, it was reported that she had witnessed 52 animals being slaughtered in a single afternoon in pursuance of the statutory use of the humane killer. Douglas-Hamilton was chief promoter of the Animal Defence Society's "Model Humane Abattoir", established in

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2021 census was 33,990. Letchworth ...

in 1928. The humane abattoir received many donations. On creation of the humane abattoir, Douglas-Hamilton commented that "in a civilized country, a slaughterhouse need not be a place of horror, into which animals are driven by kicks and tail-twistings. We ask for mercy to animals, for decency, for cleanliness, and, above all a swift and painless death". Douglas-Hamilton was a vegetarian in her personal life but in 1928 became the head of a humane butcher's shop. In 1931, she stated that "we should ask for the first step to needful reform. This is the use in every slaughterhouse of the mechanically operated humane killer, through which death is made swift and painless". In May 1950, she opened a maternity home for cats at her Dorset home, where she looked after 40 cats that were mostly strays. In June 1950, she attended an international animal welfare conference at Genova. She was a member of the Council of Justice to Animals (Humane Slaughter Association).

Death

Douglas-Hamilton refused to be operated on for a throat condition due to her opinions on medical research, and when the condition worsened, she refused

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...

s. The condition led to her death on 12 January 1951, at her London house. The funeral service was held in

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...

and the burial was at Berwick St John, near Shaftesbury.

Legacy

A Princess Coronation Class steam locomotive was named after her, which is on static display at the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum (NRM) is a museum in York, England, forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historical ...

, York. The Duchess Nina Institute in the village of Quarter, near Hamilton, Scotland, was a gift to the villagers by the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton and was formally opened on 24 September 1910.

Notes

External links

The Duchess Nina Institute
– ''Hamilton Observer'', 1 October 1910 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas-Hamilton, Nina, Duchess of Hamilton Hamilton, Nina Mary Benita Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton, Nina Mary Benita Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of British animal welfare workers English anti-vivisectionists Hamilton, Nina Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of English people of Irish descent Keepers of animal sanctuaries Douglas-Hamilton, Nina Mary Benita