• Mary Elizabeth Pickup

    Four women, Carrie Morrison, Maud Crofts, Mary Elaine Sykes and Mary Elizabeth Pickup, passed the Law Society’s finals examinations in December 1922. Later that month Carrie Morrison became the first [...]

  • Elsie Florence Turner: First Woman to be Clerk to a Judge

    My maternal grandparents, Elsie Waugh and Stanley Turner, married in 1932, and their first child, a boy, was born in 1940. They were living in Willesden when in May of [...]

  • Ada Yeates & Sisters, Legal Stationers, Dublin

    The story of Ada Yeates and Sisters, legal stationers, scriveners and typists, who were the successors to a "law and commercial stamp retailer" business operated by Catherine Carroll since 1851. [...]

  • Agnes Twiston Hughes

    A woman of fierce determination, Agnes Twiston Hughes qualified as a solicitor in 1923 and thus became the first Welsh woman to qualify as a solicitor of the Supreme Court [...]

  • Mary Elaine Sykes, “The Wise Little Owl”

    Born in 1896 Mary Elaine Sykes was one of the first four women to pass the Law Society’s Final Examinations in 1922. She was the middle child of Huddersfield solicitor [...]

  • Mithan Tata 1898 – 1981

    In 1923 Mithan Tata became the first woman called to the bar by Lincoln’s Inn and the first practising Indian woman barrister. She would have been remarkable in any era, [...]

  • Mercy Ashworth

    Mercy Ashworth was called to the bar on 26 January 1923 at the same time as Mithan Tata. They were the first two women from Lincoln’s Inn. At the age [...]

  • Ethel Bright Ashford: A member of the first small cohort of women to practise at the English Bar

    A member of the first small cohort of women to practise at the English Bar, Ethel Bright Ashford was called alongside Helena Normanton and seven other women at Middle Temple [...]

  • Maud Crofts: “We women want not privileges but equality.”

    Guest Post by Elizabeth Cruickshank When Maud Crofts was formally admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales on 11 January 1923 she realised an ambition [...]

  • Barbara Calvert QC

    In 1974, Barbara Calvert QC, later known as Lady Lowry, was the first woman to be a Head of Chambers when she founded 4 Brick Court. Eight years later she [...]

  • Margaret Thatcher: “I should like to see more and more women at Westminster…”

    I should like to see more and more women at Westminster, and in the highest places, too. It would certainly be a good thing for the women of Britain. And [...]

  • Chaya Ray: BT’s First Female Lawyer

    First 100 Years is delighted to share the story of BT’s first female lawyer, Mrs. Chaya Ray. Chaya and her ex-colleagues at BT have been able to tell us about [...]

  • Joyce Gutteridge CBE, aka ‘Auntie Joyce’ and how she inspired me

    By Alice Ackernley (née Gutteridge) Scene: Christmas Day, 1980 Me (aged 5): [throws ball narrowly missing Christmas tree] My mother: "Alice, don’t throw balls in the house!" Me: "But I [...]

  • Lady Littlewood

    Guest post by Alice Tyson Lady Barbara ("Bill") Littlewood (1909-1995) may not be a familiar name to many, but her contributions to women in the legal profession should not be [...]

  • Carrie Morrison

    In December 1922 Carrie Morrison became the first woman to be admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales. At the age of 34, and with a varied career behind [...]