Women’s Legal Landmarks : Celebrating the History of Women and Law in the UK and Ireland

Women's Legal Landmarks commemorates the centenary of women's admission in 1919 to the legal profession in the UK and Ireland by identifying key legal landmarks in women's legal history. Over 80 authors write about landmarks that represent a significant achievement or turning point in women's engagement with law and law reform. The landmarks cover a wide range of topics, including matrimonial property, the right to vote, prostitution, surrogacy and assisted reproduction, rape, domestic violence, FGM, equal pay, abortion, image-based sexual abuse, and the ordination of women bishops, as well as the life stories of women who were the first to undertake key legal roles and positions. Together the landmarks offer a scholarly intervention in the recovery of women's lost history and in the development of methodology of feminist legal history as well as a demonstration of women's agency and activism in the achievement of law reform and justice. Foreword Acknowledgements Contents List of Contributors 1. Women's Legal Landmarks: An Introduction I. The Women's Legal Landmarks Project II. Doing Feminist Legal History III. The Reason for the Project: Celebrating the Centenary of Women's Admission to the Legal Profession IV. The Landmarks The Landmarks 2. Cyfraith Hywel (The Laws of Hywel Dda), c. 940 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 3. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1792 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 4. Gaols Act 1823 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 5. The Slave, Grace (1827) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 6. A Brief Summary of the Most Important Laws Concerning Women, Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, 1854 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 7. Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 8. Married Women's Property Act 1882 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 9. First Woman Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Helen Taylor, 1885 I. Life II. Context III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 10. Section 5(1) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 11. Match Women's Strike, 1888 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 12. R v Jackson (1891) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 13. A Pageant of Great Women, Cicely Hamilton, 1909–12 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 14. Representation of the People Act 1918 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 15. Maternity and Child Welfare Act 1918 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 16. Article 7 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 1919 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 17. Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 18. First Women Justices of the Peace, 1919 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 19. First Woman to be Admitted to an Inn of Court, Helena Normanton, 1919 I. Life II. Context III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 20. Committee on the Employment of Women on Police Duties, 1920 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 21. First Woman Law Agent, Madge Easton Anderson, 1920 I. Life II. Context III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 22. Foundation of the Association of Women Solicitors, 1921 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 23. First Woman to Practise as a Barrister in Ireland and the (then) United Kingdom, Averil Deverell, 1921 I. Life II. Context III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 24. First Woman Solicitor in England and Wales, Carrie Morrison, 1922 I. Life II. Context III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 25. Matrimonial Causes Act 1923 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 26. First Woman Member of the Faculty of Advocates, Margaret Kidd, 1923 I. Life II. Context III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 27. First Woman Professor of Law in Ireland, Frances Moran, 1925 I. Life II. Context III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 28. DPP v Jonathan Cape and Leopold Hill (1928) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 29. Edwards v Attorney General of Canada (1929) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 30. Education Act 1944 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 31. Family Allowances Act 1945 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 32. British Nationality Act 1948 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 33. Married Women (Restraint Upon Anticipation) Act 1949 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 34. Life Peerages Act 1958 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 35. First Woman to Hold Regular Judicial Office in England and Wales, Rose Heilbron, 1964 I. Life II. Context III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 36. Married Women's Property Act 1964 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 37. First Woman High Court Judge in England and Wales, Elizabeth Lane, 1965 I. Life II. Context III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 38. Abortion Act 1967 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 39. National Health Service (Family Planning) Act 1967 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 40. Dagenham Car Plant Strike, 1968 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 41. First Woman Professor of Law in the UK, Claire Palley, 1970 I. Life II. Context III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 42. First Women's Refuge, 1971 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 43. Section 25 of the Criminal Justice Act 1972 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 44. Sex Discrimination Act 1975 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 45. First Rape Crisis Centre, 1976 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 46. Section 4 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 47. Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 48. Davis v Johnson (1978) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 49. Health (Family Planning) Act 1979 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 50. Williams & Glyn's Bank v Boland (1980) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 51. Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp, 1981–2000 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 52. Gill and Coote v El Vino Co Ltd (1982) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 53. Women and the Law, Susan Atkins and Brenda Hoggett, 1984 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 54. Warnock Report, 1984 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 55. Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 56. Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority (1985) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 57. Grant v Edwards (1986) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 58. Section 32 of the Finance Act 1988 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 59. First Woman Court of Appeal Judge in England and Wales, Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, 1988 I. Life II. Context III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 60. Section 5 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 61. First Woman President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, 1990 I. Life II. Context III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 62. Foundation of the Association of Women Barristers, 1991 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 63. R v Ahluwalia (1993) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 64. Feminist Legal Studies Journal, 1993 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 65. Barclays Bank v O'Brien (1993) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 66. Webb v EMO Air Cargo (UK) Ltd (No 2) (1994) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 67. First Woman to Lead a Top 10 Law Firm in England and Wales, Lesley MacDonagh, 1995 I. Life II. Context III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 68. Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1995 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 69. St George's Healthcare NHS Trust v S (1998) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 70. Section 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 71. Islam v Secretary of State for the Home Department, R v Immigration Appeal Tribunal and Another, ex parte Shah (1999) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 72. White v White (2000) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 73. Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 74. Section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 75. National Assembly for Wales Election, 2003 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 76. Mental Capacity Act 2005 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 77. UK Ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (OP-CEDAW), 2005 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 78. Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 79. First Woman Attorney General for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Patricia Scotland, 2007 I. Life II. Context III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 80. Section 14 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 81. Radmacher v Granatino (2010) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 82. Concluding Observations of the UN Committee against Torture, Recommendation to Ireland Regarding the Magdalene Laundries, 2011 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 83. Birmingham City Council v Abdulla (2012) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 84. Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 85. Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 86. R v Nimmo and Sorley (2014) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 87. Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure 2014 and Canon C2 'Of the Consecration of Bishops', 2014 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 88. In the Matter of an Application for Judicial Review by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (2015) I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 89. Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 90. Section 2 of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 91. First Woman President of the UK Supreme Court, Brenda Hale, 2017 I. Life II. Context III. What Happened Next IV. Significance 92. Thirty-sixth Amendment to the Irish Constitution, 2018 I. Context II. The Landmark III. What Happened Next IV. Significance Index Women's legal landmarks : an introduction / Erika Rackley and Rosemary Auchmuty -- Cyfraith Hywel (the laws of Hywel Dda), c. 940 / Carol Howells -- A vindication of the rights of woman, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1792 / Anna Jobe -- Gaols act 1823 / Ruth Lamont -- The Slave, Grace (1827) / Rosemary Auchmuty -- A brief summary of the most important laws concerning women, Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, 1854 / Joanne Conaghan -- Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 / Penelope Russell -- Married Women's Property Act 1882 / Andy Hayward -- First woman prospective parliamentary candidate, Helen Taylor, 1885 / Janet Smith -- Section 5(1) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 / Lois Bibbings -- Match women's strike, 1888 / Jacqueline Lane -- R v Jackson (1891) / Teresa Sutton -- A pageant of great women, Cicely Hamilton, 1909-12 / Katharine Cockin -- Representation of the People Act 1918 / Mari Takayanagi -- Maternity and Child Welfare Act 1918 / Hazel Biggs -- Article 7 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 1919 / Aoife O'Donoghue -- Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 / Mari Takayanagi -- First women justices of the peace, 1919 / Anne Logan -- First woman to be admitted to an inn of court, Helena Normanton, 1919 / Judith Bourne -- Committee on the Employment of Women on Police Duties, 1920 / Colin R Moore -- First woman law agent, Madge Easton Anderson, 1920 / Alison Lindsay -- Foundation of the Association of Women Solicitors, 1921 / Elizabeth Cruickshank -- First woman to practise as a barrister in Ireland and the (then) United Kingdom, Averil Deverell, 1921 / Liz Goldthorpe -- First woman solicitor in England and Wales, Carrie Morrison, 1922 / Elizabeth Cruickshank -- Matrimonial Causes Act 1923 / Penelope Russell -- First woman member of the Faculty of Advocates, Margaret Kidd, 1923 / Catriona Cairns -- First woman professor of law in Ireland, Frances Moran, 1925 / Emma Hutchinson -- DPP v Jonathan Cape and Leopold Hill (1928) / Caroline Derry -- Edwards v Attorney-General of Canada (1929) / Sarah Mercer -- Education Act 1944 / Harriet Samuels -- Family Allowances Act 1945 / Lucy Vickers -- British Nationality Act 1948 / Helen Kay and Rose Pipes -- Married Women (Restraint upon Anticipation) Act 1949 / Rosemary Auchmuty -- Life Peerages Act 1958 / Supuni Perera -- First woman to hold regular judicial office in England and Wales, Rose Heilbron, 1964 / Laura Lammasniemi -- Married Women's Property Act 1964 / Sharon Thompson -- First woman High Court judge in England and Wales, Elizabeth Lane, 1965 / Judith Bourne and Frances Burton -- Abortion Act 1967 / Nicky Priaulx and Natalie Jones -- National Health Service (Family Planning) Act 1967 / Leonora Onaran -- Dagenham car plant strike, 1968 / Dawn Watkins -- First woman professor of law in the United Kingdom, Claire Palley, 1970 / Fiona Cownie -- First women's refuge, 1971 / Felicity Kaganas -- Section 25 of the Criminal Justice Act 1972 / Anne Logan -- Sex Discrimination Act 1975 / Anne Morris -- First rape crisis centre, 1976 / Alison Diduck -- Section 4 of the Sexual Offences (amendment) Act 1976 / Clare McGlynn and Julia Downes -- Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 / Laura Binger and Helen Carr -- Davis v Johnson (1978) / Susan Edwards -- Health (Family Planning) Act 1979 / Máiréad Enright -- Williams & Glyn's Bank v Boland (1980) / Rosemary Auchmuty -- Greenham Common women's peace camp, 1981-2000 / Elizabeth Woodcraft -- Gill and Coote v El Vino Co ltd (1982) / Anne Morris -- Women and the law, Susan Atkins and Brenda Hoggett, 1984 / Brenda Hale and Susan Atkins -- Warnock report, 1984 / Kirsty Horsey -- Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985 / Phyllis Livaha -- Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority (1985) / Emma Nottingham -- Grant v Edwards (1986) / Joanne Beswick -- Section 32 of the Finance Act 1988 / Ann Mumford -- First woman Court of Appeal judge in England and Wales, Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, 1988 / Dana Denis-Smith -- Section 5 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (amendment) Act 1990 / Susan Leahy -- First woman president of Ireland, Mary Robinson, 1990 / Leah Treanor -- Foundation of the Association of Women Barristers, 1991 / Frances Burton -- R v Ahluwalia (1992) / Siobhan Weare -- Feminist legal studies journal, 1993 / Rosemary Hunter -- Barclays Bank v O'brien (1993) / Sarah Greer -- Webb v Emo Air Cargo (UK) ltd (no 2) (1994) / Debra Morris -- First woman to lead a top 10 law firm in England and Wales, Lesley Macdonagh, 1995 / Steven Vaughan -- Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1995 / Laura Cahillane -- St George's Healthcare NHS Trust v S (1998) / Kay Lalor, Anne Morris and Annapurna Waughray -- Section 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 / Sonia Kalsi -- Islam v Secretary of State for the Home Department, R v Immigration Appeal Tribunal and another, ex parte Shah (1999) / Nora Honkala -- White v White (2000) / Jonathan Herring -- Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002 / Susan Atkins -- Section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 / Nikki Godden-Rasul -- National Assembly for Wales Election, 2003 / Catrin Fflur Huws -- Mental Capacity Act 2005 / Rosie Harding -- UK ratification of the optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (OP-CEDAW), 2005 / Meghan Campbell -- Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 / Pragna Patel -- First woman attorney general for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Patricia Scotland, 2007 / Linda Mulcahy -- Section 14 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 / F Vera-Grey -- Radmacher v Granatino (2010) / Marie Parker -- Concluding observations of the UN Committee against Torture, recommendation to Iireland regarding the Magdalene Laundries, 2011 / Maeve O'Rourke -- Birmingham City Council v Abdulla (2012) / Harini Iyengar -- Electoral (amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012 / Ivana Bacik -- Protection of Life during Pregnancy Act 2013 / Fiona de Londras -- R v Nimmo and Sorley (2014) / Kim Barker -- Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure 2014 and Canon c2, "of the consecration of bishops", 2014 / Miranda Threlfall-Holmes -- In the matter of an application for judicial review by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (2015) / Marie Fox and Sheelagh McGuiness -- Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015 / Olga Jurasz -- Section 2 of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016 / Erika Rackley -- First woman president of the UK Supreme Court, Brenda Hale, 2017 / Erika Rackley -- Thirty-sixth amendment of the Irish constitution, 2018 / Fiona de Londras Women's Legal Landmarks commemorates the centenary of women's admission in 1919 to the legal profession in the UK and Ireland by identifying key legal landmarks in women's legal history. Over 90 authors write on landmarks that represent a significant achievement or marked an important stage or turning point in women's engagement with law and law reform. The landmarks embrace a wide range of topics, including the right to vote, equal pay, forced marriage, sexual violence, abortion and the ordination of women bishops, as well as the life stories of women who were the first to undertake key legal roles and positions. The collection was produced using an established feminist practice whereby each contribution was presented in collaborative workshops to ensure shared knowledge and insights into both the legal area and the historical context. Women's Legal Landmarks offers a scholarly intervention into the recovery of women's lost history, employing the methodology of feminist legal history to provide accounts which are accurate as to both law and historical context and which, taken together, demonstrate women's agency and activism in the achievement of law reform and justice