Monica Geikie Cobb
On 1 December 1922, Monica Mary Geikie Cobb became the first woman barrister in England and Wales to appear in court. She had qualified as a barrister on 22 November that year, one of the first small cohort of women … Read more
Lady Rhondda’s petition for women to sit in House of Lords, 1922
Viscountess Rhondda, a hereditary woman peer in her own right, was the first woman to petition to take her seat in the House of Lords. No woman had attempted this previously because of long-established custom and lack of precedent. Although … Read more
First Women Jurors, 1920
On 29 July 1920, The Times reported that ‘Women jurors were empaneled for the first time at the Bristol Quarter Sessions yesterday’. A jury of six women and six men had ‘adjudicated on six cases’. Prosecuting counsel used the unfamiliar … Read more
Industrial Courts Act 1919
The Industrial Courts Act 1919 established a permanent Industrial Court to provide voluntary arbitration in trade disputes. Section 1 provided that the Court should consist of independent persons, persons representing employers, persons representing workmen, and ‘in addition one or more … Read more
Report of the War Cabinet Committee on Women in Industry, 1919
In September 1918, the War Cabinet set up a committee on ‘Women in Industry’: ‘To investigate and report on the relation which should be maintained between the wages of women and men having regard to the interests of both as … Read more
Nancy Astor
On 1 December 1919 Nancy Astor became the first woman MP to take her seat in the House of Commons. Hers was the first female voice heard in the chamber as an MP; she was the first woman MP to … Read more
Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918
The Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 enabled women to be elected to, sit and vote in the UK House of Commons. Women were previously barred as a matter of common law rather than statute law. It followed the Representation … Read more
Constance Markievicz
The first woman elected to the House of Commons.
Elizabeth Lane
Elizabeth Lane was the first woman appointed to the High Court.
Family Allowances Act 1945
The Family Allowances Act 1945 introduced child benefit paid to women.