Born in Yorkshire, Dickinson played in the first recorded cricket match in Christchurch in December 1851, when he was 23.
[1] The match took place in Hagley Park, between a Working Men's Eleven (Dickinson's team) and a Christchurch Cricket Club Eleven, as part of the celebrations marking a year since the foundation of Christchurch.
When residents were looking for a name for the district, he suggested St Albans, and it was adopted.
[9] He served on the St Albans borough council for 14 years.
[11] He died suddenly at his home in Westminster Street, St Albans, on 14 June 1913, aged 85.