11 minute read
Women made visible at the Bar
Visibility at the Bar
Women made visible at the Bar
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“One of the most memorable days in the long annals of the legal profession” was how Ivy Williams’s call to the bar was reported exactly 100 years ago this month, on 10 May 1922. Williams was the first woman to be called to the Bar of England and Wales and, in a speech marking the occasion, she recalled that “It had been the dream of her life … that she should become a barrister.” Having already embarked upon a career as an academic, Williams did not intend to practise at the Bar. Instead, she acknowledged “the women who would follow and whowould practise at the Bar, and she asked that every help and encouragement should be given them in the difficulties they would have to face.” Her call was made possible by the passing of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919, which removed all legal barriers to women working as lawyers. However, as Williams recognised, the Act was only the beginning of women’s struggle for equality within the legal profession, which continues today.
As reported in Legal Women last year, (Issue 4, September 2021, pp.38-40), there are important questions over women’s participation, retention and progression within the profession. The way in which women are represented within their places of work impacts on these issues because, research has shown, relatable role-models are important to women in professions where sex and gender may be seen as barriers to progression. In 2017, I curated a temporary exhibition, Celebrating a Centenary of Women in Law, in Lincoln’s Inn’s Old Hall. For the first time, women barristers, including Mercy Ashworth and Mithan Tata, the first women to be called by Lincoln’s Inn’s, were represented against the backdrop of existing male portraits. There is now a conference suite, at Lincoln’s Inn, named the Ashworth Centre and the unveiling of a major new piece of artwork, to coincide with the centenary of her call to the Bar, is planned for 2023.
Other temporary exhibitions included Celebrating a Century of Women in Law, a photography exhibition curated by Rosalind Wright and displayed in Middle Temple Hall and a photography exhibition, the Justicia Project, held in the Bar Library, Belfast to celebrate the achievements of Northern Ireland’s women barristers and 100 years since Frances Kyle and Averil Deverell were the first women to be called to the Bar anywhere in Britain and Ireland. As the Bar of Northern Ireland explain: “We want to inspire young women to choose and persevere with a career in the law. You cannot be what you cannot see! And the more opportunities we create for young women to see female leaders in their profession, the more they should feel empowered to take up and continue with a career in law.” Anniversaries have the power to inspire curiosity in a subject. What is needed is continued interest and permanent representation of women’s current and historic position at the Bar.
As women continue to achieve firsts in the legal profession, it is only relatively recently that women have achieved the positions that would historically warrant commemoration. Rose Heilbron, whose portrait hangs in Gray’s Inn, was not elected the first woman Treasurer of any of the four Inns of Court until 1985. She was followed by Elizabeth Butler-Sloss at Inner Temple in 1998; Elizabeth Appleby at Lincoln’s Inn in 2009; and, revealing the slow progress for women in law, it was not until 2011 that Dawn Oliver was elected the first woman Treasurer at Middle Temple and 2018 that her portrait, the first of a non-royal woman, was unveiled. At Gray’s Inn, it was not until 2017 that another woman, Brenda Hale, was appointed Treasurer. She is depicted in two oil paintings and in 2021, Gray’s Inn’s main entrance was renamed Lady Hale Gate. As Gray’s Inn comment: “we understand the connection between providing role-models and widening access to the profession. Through our art collection we shine a spotlight on Rose Heilbron and Brenda Hale, to name just two. This reinforces the work being done by our members in engaging with and supporting women throughout their careers, most recently through participation in the Inns of Court Alliance for Women.”
As the latest statistics reveal, almost a third of judges are now women (mostly in the lower courts and tribunals) and all four Inns of Court proudly display portraits of their women judges. Indicative of women’s progress in the profession, at Inner Temple and Gray’s Inn this includes group portraits of several Lady Justices of Appeal. For ethnic minority women progress
has been slower making it arguably even more important that they are represented. In 2021, Middle Temple unveiled a portrait of Patricia Scotland, the first black woman to be appointed a Recorder and the first woman Attorney General.
As places of work for women barristers, it is also important that court buildings reflect diversity within the profession. In 2018, First 100 Years produced a mobile exhibition, which was displayed in courts and universities around the country including the Royal Courts of Justice and the Supreme Court. However, more permanent representation is required. At the Royal Courts of Justice, the robes made for Elizabeth Lane, the first woman Bencher of Inner Temple, on her appointment as the first woman High Court Judge, are on permanent display. Earlier this year, at Parliament Hall in Edinburgh, a portrait of Leeona Dorrian was unveiled to commemorate her appointment as the first woman Lord Justice Clerk in Scotland. Her portrait joins those of Margaret Kidd, the first woman barrister and KC in Scotland, and Hazel Cosgrove, the first woman to be appointed a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of Scotland’s Supreme Court.
The first artwork depicting women lawyers to be displayed in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom was unveiled in 2019. Dana Denis-Smith, founder of First 100 Years, explains: “We commissioned the artwork Legacy by Catherine Yass and donated it to the Supreme Court as we wanted to ensure that women in law were visible in the UK’s top court. It is the first artwork in their collection depicting women lawyers.
To mark the centenary, we were keen that it conveyed women’s journey in law in the first 100 years, their march through history but also that it linked to a future that was more inclusive, more open and in which women can thrive. This is why it depicts four portraits – Cornelia Sorabji, Rose Heilbron, Brenda Hale and a woman of the future.”
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Legacy by Catherine Yass
09. Cornelia Sorabji (1866–1954)
Cornelia Sorabji (1866–1954)
Cornelia Sorabji was called to the Bar by Lincoln’s Inn in June 1923, 31 years after she became the first woman at Oxford to sit her Bachelor of Civil Laws exams in 1892. She spent many years representing purdahnashin (veiled) women in India and described her call to the Bar as “the dream of thirty years ago or more ago accomplished.” Since 2012 a bronze bust of Sorabji has been on display, in Lincoln’s Inn.
10. Rose Heilbron (1914–2005)
Rose Heilbron (1914–2005)
Rose Heilbron was called to the Bar in 1939. She practised on the Northern Circuit and, along with Helena Normanton, was one of the first women in England and Wales to be made a KC, the first woman Recorder and the first woman judge in the Old Bailey. She is described by Brenda Hale as “a beacon to all women who joined the northern circuit in her wake.”
11. Brenda Hale
Brenda Hale is herself a beacon to existing and aspiring women lawyers. Following a career as an academic and member of the Law Commission, in 2004 she was the first (and only) woman appointed as a judge to the House of Lords. In 2012 she became the first woman Supreme Court Justice and in 2017 the first woman President of the Supreme Court. Never hesitating to call herself a feminist, her motto is ‘Women are Equal to Everything.’
Future Woman A woman of the future is included in the fourth window of Legacy. As Brenda Hale remarked at the unveiling the artwork, “I hope that each of the women depicted – past, present and future – will be seen as a role model, especially by our younger visitors.”
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Elsewhere within the profession, the historical contribution of women is also becoming more visible. As recently as 2020, Karlia Lykourgou founded the first legal outfitter to specialise in legal attire for women, Ivy & Normanton, named after Ivy Williams and Helena Normanton. Lykourgou says that she “wanted to establish a brand that champions diversity at the Bar” and to reflect the ‘grit and intellect’ of these first women lawyers.
Helena Normanton, the first woman to be admitted to an Inn of Court and one of the first women in England and Wales to be made a KC, has also given her name to the first barristers’ chambers to be named after a woman, Normanton Chambers, founded in 2019.
100 years after women were first admitted to the Bar they are finally being represented in their places of work. As more women achieve positions of seniority, it is important to recognise their achievements but also the struggles women have faced, and continue to face. As Lykourgou, a barrister as well as founder of Ivy & Normanton, points out: “When you realise what other women have had to go through to do this job, it makes it more special.”
Katie Broomfield
Katie Broomfield
Postgraduate Researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London and co-author of First: 100 Years of Women in Law
A longer version of this article is available online: Blogs (legalwomen.org.uk).
Images for Women Made Visible at the Bar:
1. Unveiling of Legacy by Catherine Yass attended by notable first women in the law © Marcus Jamieson Pond with the permission of Spark 21.
2. Patricia Scotland by Alice Beaven. Reproduced with the permission of the Honourable Society of Middle Temple.
3. Mary Arden by Keith Breedon. Lady Arden was the first woman appointed to the Chancery Division of the High Court and the third woman Justice of the Supreme Court. Reproduced with the permission of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn.
4. Helena Normanton. Courtesy of The Women’s Library at LSE.
5. Dawn Oliver by Emily MacDuff. Reproduced with the permission of the Honourable Society of Middle Temple.
6. Lady Justices Jill Black, Heather Hallett, Elizabeth Gloster, Eleanor King and Victoria Sharp. Courtesy of The Inner Temple.
7. Ann Goddard by Filippini. Ann Goddard was for many years the only woman judge at the Old Bailey. Reproduced by permission of the Masters of the Bench of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn.
8. Celebrating the Centenary of Women Lawyers exhibition at Lincoln’s Inn. The exhibition was also displayed at Manchester Civil Justice Centre from April to August 2019 © Katie Broomfield.
9. A bust of Cornelia Sorabji in Lincoln’s Inn, London by James Franklin Gresham licensed under CC BY–SA 3.0.
10. Rose Heilbron by June Mendoza. Reproduced by permission of the Masters of the Bench of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn.
11. Brenda Hale by June Mendoza. Reproduced by permission of the Masters of the Bench of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn.
12. Leeona Dorrian, Roddy Dunlop and Grace Payne Kumar at the unveiling of a portrait of Lady Dorrian by Grace Payne Kumar to commemorate her appointment as the first woman Lord Justice Clerk in Scotland. Supplied by the Faculty of Advocates.
13. Janet Smith by Richard Stone. Dame Janet was a High Court Judge and Lincoln's Inn's second woman Treasurer. Reproduced with the permission of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn.
14. Elizabeth Lane was the first woman Bencher at Inner Temple and the first woman appointed to the High Court. Courtesy of The Inner Temple.
15. Lady Justices Sarah Asplin, Nicola Davies, Anne Rafferty and Vivien Rose. Reproduced by permission of the Masters of the Bench of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn.
