Lawyer Monthly - Women In Law Special Edition

1897 Ethel Benjamin became the first female lawyer in New Zealand (and also the first in the British Empire). 1903 Emmeline Pankhhurst founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) and became a prominent figure who helped women win the right to vote. 1907 Reina Lawrence became the first female councillor elected in Britain. She also became a solicitor post the 1919 Sex Disqualification Act, despite receiving her LL.B in 1893. 1913 Bebb v The Law Society . Maud Crofts, Karin Costelloe, Lucy Nettlefold and Gwyneth Bebb challenged the Law Society to admit women on the basis that ‘women were a person within the means of the Solicitors Act 1843’. They were unsuccessful, but the publicity of this case marked an impact for the Sex Discrimination Act in 1919. 1924 Helena Normanton was the first woman to obtain a divorce for a client, the first woman to lead a prosecution in a murder trial, the first woman to conduct a trial in America, and became the first [British] woman to have their passport issued in her maiden name, believing that men and women should not need to share their money and property. 1928 The Equal Franchise Act allowed women over 21 to vote, finally allowing men and women to have the exact same rights to vote. 1933 The Bar Council allows women to practice under their maiden name so they: “are not deprived of the professional reputation acquired as spinsters.” Frances Moran became the first woman to take silk in the British Isles when she was called to the Irish Inner Bar. 1947 Janet Wood was the first woman to complete a law degree in the UK. During this time, women were required to take a ‘special exam for women’. Women were not granted degrees at Cambridge until 1947. 1941