Subject

Founded what is now the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.

Born Huntingdon as Mary Bates. Married Robert Chapman Tealby and moved to Hull by 1841. She separated from her husband and moved to London to live with her father and brother, the Revd Edward Bates, in Victoria Road (now Chillingworth Road) N7.

She became an active supporter of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The Islington Gazette of 6 October 1860 reported her concern about the suffering of all the starving dogs that were in the area. Near to her home she established the home for lost dogs. Died in Bedfordshire.

Buried at Church of St Andrew, Biggleswade, where every year, on the anniversary of her death, the Chief Executive of Battersea, accompanied by one dog from the home, lays a wreath on her grave.