He studied arts, then medicine at the
Universities of Aberdeen and
Edinburgh. He qualified as a doctor around 1835. In 1837 he is listed as a surgeon, living at Cherryvale in
Aberdeen. He became a lecturer on botany in King's College, Aberdeen, then University Librarian. In 1849 he was appointed the first Professor of Natural History at Queen's College, Belfast and became a Member of the
Belfast Natural History Society. In 1860 he returned to Aberdeen University as
Regius Professor of Botany. He was succeeded in 1877 by Prof
James William Helenus Trail FRS. Dickie worked, most importantly on the range and depth of marine algae and on cataloguing material brought back from the
Challenger expedition. Dickie was a Fellow of the
Linnean Society (1863), a Fellow of the
Royal Society (1881) and a Member of the
Belfast Natural History Society. In later life he lived at 16 Albyn Terrace in Aberdeen. He died on 15 July 1882 at is buried in the churchyard of
St Machar's Cathedral in
Old Aberdeen. The grave lies south west of the church. He was succeeded by Prof
James W. H. Trail. ==Family==