The first female solicitors in the UK
8th March 2023
Author EditorPosted on Categories Legal
Lucy Gilman, a paralegal at Mayo Wynne Baxter, shares a fascinating history for International Women’s Day
With over 100,000 female solicitors currently practicing in the UK, it is hard to imagine a time when women were not allowed into the profession. And yet it was only 101 years ago in 1922 when the very first female solicitor was admitted to the role (entitles you to practise as a solicitor) in England.
Carrie Morrison was enrolled in the profession following the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 coming into force, which paved the way for women’s entry into the legal profession for the first time.This came after several previous legal attempts to allow women entry into the profession, most notably Bebb v Law Society, which challenged the Law Society to admit females to its preliminary exams – on the basis that women came under the definition of a ‘person’ in the Solicitors Act 1843.
The 1919 Act was momentous legislation which meant that Morrison, together with Mary Pickup, Mary Sykes and Maud Crofts, were able to complete their Law Society examinations and finally qualify as solicitors.
Morrison’s career as a solicitor was very much one of standing up for those unable to defend themselves. During the years following her qualification, she spent her time working as a Poor Man’s Lawyer, a service that was established in 1891 and was the inspiration for our current legal aid system. Morrison often represented prostitutes in court and was the solicitor for the Women and Children’s Protection Society.
Most notable was her work towards the Divorce Law Reform. Morrison was the first lady solicitor to represent a woman petitioner, under the Poor Person’s Rules. Together with her ex-husband, also a solicitor, she advocated to make the divorce process more reasonable and fairer for both parties, as the law required that the process should be adversarial, with one party ‘placing blame’ on the other. It is particularly poignant that we celebrate Morrison in the same year that the divorce law finally left behind the archaic legislation and moved towards a more amicable process based on ‘no-fault’.
In 2020, the Law Society honoured Morrison by having a room, known as the Old Bookshop, renamed in her honour at its historic headquarters in Chancery Lane.
Morrison was preceded in Scotland by Madge Easton Anderson, who became the first female solicitor in the UK in 1920. Anderson also practiced as a Poor Man’s Lawyer within her community in Glasgow and, in 1937, she qualified as a solicitor in England, making her the first woman to qualify in two jurisdictions in the UK. She established the first all-female law firm in London with two other women, Edith Annie Berthan and Beatrice Honour Davy, proving her to be a true pioneer.
We owe a great deal to the likes of Carrie Morrison and Madge Anderson. They fought with sheer determination for women to have the right to work in law, a profession that was dominated by men at the time and is now, according to the Law Society, 53% female.
The coat of arms of the first female President of the UK Supreme Court, Baroness Hale, carries the motto ‘Omnia Feminae Aequissimae’, which means “women are equal to everything”. Carrie Morrison and Madge Anderson proved this to be true and, as female professionals working within law, we are proud!
And here at Mayo Wynne Baxter, we continue to prove that adage. Everybody wins with equality; we believe that we are stronger together and that our differences make us stronger. We can’t look to the next 101 years having only the same voices heard as in the last century. For a firm to thrive, we need diversity of views and representation at all levels. In a profession where, according to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority, only 35% of partners are women:
• 45% of our partners are female!
• 54% of our Heads of Department are female!
• 45% of our Senior Management Team are women!
• Our Head of HR is a woman!
• Our Practice Director is a woman!
And we are proud to be part of a wider group lead by a female Chief Executive!
Plus, in 2021 MWB appointed Helen Bell as our Board Chair!
Helen commented on this position: “It’s a privilege to be elected by my fellow partners as Board Chair and made even more so as I am the first female Chair to be appointed in the firm’s 125+ year history. I am looking forward to the challenges ahead and to helping steer the firm to even greater success so that we around for at least the next 125+ years.”
To have come so far doesn’t mean we will be resting on our laurels. We have seen the benefit of reaching equality in positions of seniority, whether it is embedding flexible and hybrid working, having open discussions, and training on menopause issues, or simply recognising the barriers we faced and eliminating them for our junior colleagues, male and female. By making it easier for women to achieve their full potential, everyone – including the men – in the firm benefit.
Looking to the future, we know our strength lies in our people. The profession, and Mayo Wynne Baxter, has come a long way in the last 100 years to recognise the benefits that women bring, and we look to the time when our profession is fully representative of the communities we serve.
We have come a long way from having to argue that a woman is a person, but as we have seen in recent times, this remains a hot topic. However, we will be celebrating every one of our wonderful sisters, mother’s, grandmothers, daughters, friends, colleagues, partners, whoever they are on International Women’s Day and are looking forward to the next 101 years!