Celebrating 100 years since the Sex Discrimination (Removal) Act 1919
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First Woman to serve as Speaker in an African Parliament
Joyce Bamford-Addo
First Woman to be Called to the Bar of England and Wales
Ivy Williams
First Woman to be Admitted to The Inner Temple
Theodora Llewelyn Davies
Anti-Apartheid Campaigner who became Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa
Frene Ginwala
First Woman Judge and President of the International Court of Justice
Rosalyn Higgins
First Woman to be a Lawyer in Dominica, and the first to be Prime Minister
Eugenia Charles
First Woman Member of Court of Appeal
Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
First Woman to sit as Recorder for a Jury Trial
Dorothy Knight Dix
First Woman to Practise as a Barrister in Burma
Daw Phar Hmee
Women in Law
The Significance of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919
...Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919. Public lecture for the First Women Lawyers series by Dr Mari Takayanagi
Find out morePodcasts
Hear the personal stories of some of the pioneering women who tried to enter the legal profession
Find out moreThe Significance of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919
...Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919. Public lecture for the First Women Lawyers series by Dr Mari Takayanagi
Find out morePodcasts
Hear the personal stories of some of the pioneering women who tried to enter the legal profession
Find out moreUp until recently the lives of our earliest women members from China, Malaya and Burma remained obscure. However, thanks to the research of Chen Li (Associate Professorial Fellow at Fudan University Law School in Shanghai) the lives of these fascinating women, who include the first Burmese law student and first female barrister, are revealed in these two articles using archival records in China, London and Singapore.
Seeking “A Fair Field” for Women in the Legal Profession: Pioneering Burmese Portias of 1924-1935
Ushering in the New Age of Chinese Women Lawyers: The First British Malayan Chinese Lady Barristers and their Pursuit of Legal Education 1923-1934
With Thanks to Our Contributors
Dr Judith Bourne |
Dr Caroline Derr |
Dr Frances Burton |
Senior Lecturer, Property and Family Law Co-Director International Centre for Family Law, Policy and Practice Editor International Family Law, Policy and Practice |
Li Chen |
Associate Professorial Fellow, Eastern Scholar Distinguished Professor Fudan University Law School in Shanghai, China |
Charlotte Coleman |
PhD Candidate at St Mary’s University researching the first women barristers (1919-1929) and their networks and connections. |
Dr Caroline Derr |
Senior Lecturer – Open University School of Law |
Carrie de Silva |
Principal Lecturer - Law and Taxation, Harper Adams University |
Liz Goldthorpe |
Retired tribunal judge and author |
Dr Alana Harris MA/DPhil (Oxon); SFHEA, FRHS |
Senior Lecturer in Modern British History, King’s College, University of London |
| Leslie Howsam, FRSC | Emerita Distinguished University Professor, University of Windsor Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Digital Humanities, Ryerson University, Canada |
Dr Caroline Morris |
Senior Lecturer in Public Law, Queen Mary University of London |
Professor Emerita Mary Jane Mossman |
Osgoode Law School, York |
Dr Sumita Mukherjee |
Senior Lecturer in History, University of Bristol |
Ros Wright CB QC |
Master of the Bench, Middle Temple |
Dr Mari Takanagi |
Senior Archivist, Parliamentary Archives |
Professor Emerita Margaret Thornton |
ANU College of Law, Australian National University |
Jane Wynne Willson |
Daughter of Theodora Llewellyn Davies, with contributions from other family members |
Thanks also to Professor Richard Sorabji and the First 100 Years Project for their generous agreement to allow us to link to the films of Masters Gloster and Butler-Sloss.