Founded in 1910 by James Halliwell Dickinson, who was born in England in 1880 and emigrated to South Africa in 1901. In 1910 he formed J.H.Dickinson Construction and after his son was born the company’s name was changed to J.H.Dickinson & Son. In 1928, Jackie, son of James Dickinson, was engaged as a carpenter for J.H.Dickinson & Son and with the building of the first blast furnace at Iscor Pretoria, found himself in the enviable position of being the first refractory specialist in the country. This was the beginning of John R. Dickinson Brickwork Specialists, trading today as J.R. Dickinson & Sons. The Dickinson Group, successfully trading for more than 90 years, in 2003 celebrated its 75th anniversary in the specialized field of refractories, having grown to be Africa's leading, independent refractory specialists, in the supply of a turnkey service to the refractory consuming industries of Africa and the International Markets.

James Halliwel Dickinson. 
  Milestones
  • 1910 – Founding of J.H. Dickinson Construction James Halliwell Dickinson poses in front of his first workshop.
  • 1928 – Establishment of John R. Dickinson Refractory Brickwork Specialists. Refractory bricklayers at the Iscor Pretoria Coke Cooling Plant, circled is J.R. "Jackie" Dickinson, founder of John R. Dickinson Refractory Brickwork Specialists.
  • 1966 - John R. Dickinson Refractory Brickwork Specialists changes name to J.R.Dickinson & Sons (Pty) Ltd trading today as Dickinson Group (Pty). Four generations of the Dickinson family, from left to right: Jackie R. Dickinson (father of Neville Dickinson - present Chairman), James H. Dickinson, Trevor M. Dickinson & Neville J. Dickinson.
 
  • 1984 – Refractory Fibre & Anchor Division.
  • 1986 – Refractory Precast Division
  • 1988 – Dickinson Refractories (Pty) Ltd.
  • 1995 – Furnace Demolition Division.
  • 1996 – Dickinson Refractory Services (Natal) (Pty) Ltd.
  • 1999 – Dickinson Mozambique Lda.
  • 2001 – DBL Aluminium Services S.A.
  • 2001 – Dickinson North West Province.
  • 2002 – Dickinson Refractory Services International Ltd.
  • 2002 – DMCE Projects & Services (Pty) Ltd.
  • 2003 – 75th Anniversary of Refractory Business.