Born: Harriett Minnie Castledine was born on 8th August 1871. Her father was Henry Castledine who lived in the Regent’s Park district of London.
Educated: Minnie Castledine was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge and the London School of Medicine for Women. She graduated B.Sc. in 1895, M.B. in 1898 and M.D. in 1901.
Married: In 1899, Minnie Castledine married Harry Driffield Levick, a consulting surgeon.
Family: Minnie and Harry Levick had no children.
Home: After her father’s death, her mother married a Mr. Marson who lived in Willerby on the western edge of Hull. Minnie was living there when she married Harry Levick, who was living in St. Paul’s Crescent, Middlesbrough at the time. Later they lived at a house, which they named “Willerby” on Cambridge Road in Linthorpe.
Known for: Together with her husband, Dr. Levick performed the first appendectomy in Middlesbrough. In 1913, together with Elizabeth Purvis, she began a Maternity and Child Welfare Clinic in Cannon Street, Middlesbrough. Other such clinics followed, culminating in the opening of the Middlesbrough Maternity Home in 1920. Minnie Levick was elected to the town council from 1926 to 1932. She was mayoress when her husband was mayor in 1930. She was a district and divisional commissioner for the Girl Guides, president of the local branch of the National Council of Women and medical officer to the local Board of Education. She was also Chairman of the local division of the British Medical Association. In 1944, Minnie Levick was awarded the M.B.E. for her work for the Women’s Voluntary Service.
Died: Dr. Minnie Levick died on 8th August 1961, aged 90.
Further Information: “Three Eminent Middlesbrough Women”, Geoffrey Stout, in Cleveland History vol.78 (2000)