Other than legal historians, little known these days for her contribution to the emancipation of women in the legal profession than by Ivy Williams (7 September 1877 – 18 February 1966), the first woman barrister in England and Wales. She was the torch bearer and the leading light which many women followed in their ambitions to become barristers.
Williams was born in Newton Abbot, Devon and was educated privately before going on to Oxford to study law at the Society of Oxford Home Students, later to become St. Anne’s College and by 1903 she had successfully completed all her law exams but, as a woman, she was prevented from matriculating or receiving her degree because Oxford University’s regulations at that time did not permit women to graduate. She had to wait until 1920 before receiving her BA degree in law.
As a point of fact and interest here, in 1903 women were allowed to take all the examinations leading up to a BA degree, even studying alongside men in the teaching environment, although residing in single sexed colleges, but women law students then had no reward for their efforts. They were regarded as honored guests in a place of education which was insecure about their status. In November 1910 The Times wrote, reflecting on the progress of women in Oxford university: “Oxford has recognized she has daughters, and some day she will give to them, as to her sons, the right to bear her name and wear her gown.” It was another ten years later that on the 7th of October 1920 the first women students from the School of Divinity were awarded degrees. A report about that day appeared in the Oxford Times, saying: “. . .the Divinity School was alive with trim figures in cap and gown in various stages of excitement, all carrying the University statute book under their arms and all proud of their newly won distinction”.
It was not until 1957 that the quotas restricting the number of women undergraduates was lifted by Oxford University, only in 1959 that the five women’s colleges at Oxford received equal status as men’s colleges and thereby their heads became eligible to become Vice chancellor - in 1961 Lucy Sutherland became the first woman Pro Vice Chancellor. That same year the Oxford Union extended its full membership to women. Then it took until 2015 for Professor Louise Richardson to become the 272nd and first woman Vice Chancellor of the University in 800 years, all those previously had been men.
Returning to Ivy Williams, after much petitioning and with the abolition of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 which abolished the prohibition of women becoming barristers, she was eventually called to the Bar as a member of the Inner Temple, one of the four Inns of Court. In 1922, she became the first female to qualify as a barrister in England and Wales. It is not clear whether out personal choice, or otherwise, she never was a court advocate but chose to become a legal academic.
In that role she went on to be the first woman awarded a Doctor of Civil Laws in 1923 and the first to teach law at Oxford, or indeed at any English University, and which she continued to do until 1945. As recognition of her work in academia she was elected as an Honorary Fellow of St. Ann’s College, Oxford in 1956.
In a period in history when women did not have the vote and men dominated in every profession, Ivy Williams did not chain herself to railings or throw herself under the King’s horse, nor bowed to prejudice, but with quiet persistency established an initial foothold for women to practice in the legal profession in England and Wales. Many exceptional women have followed in her footsteps, and a number of women have made it to the top of this profession, but as in many other sections of society, there is still a way to go before women have equal opportunities as men in their legal careers.
In a period in history when women did not have the vote and men dominated in every profession, Ivy Williams did not chain herself to railings or throw herself under the King’s horse, nor bowed to prejudice, but with quiet persistency established an initial foothold for women to practice in the legal profession in England and Wales.
Her legacy did not end with her legal career. Later in life Ivy Williams began to lose her sight and as a consequence learned Braille and went on to write a Braille primer, which is a comprehensive guide for people wishing to learn to write Braille or who want to become transcribers. This was published by the National Institute for the Blind in 1948.
A celebration of the life of Ivy Williams was commissioned by Wordley Partnership (WP) Solicitors in a book written by Bridget Wheeler, entitled “Ivy Williams” and published by Woodbridge Publishing, 2022. In its reasons for doing so WP says on their website: “We sponsored this book in recognition of the increasingly important role that women play in the legal landscape, albeit with more to be done. We hope that this book will inspire those starting or already in the legal profession whatever their background”.
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