Helena Normanton and the Opening of the Bar to Women

Judith Bourne

Description

In this first full-length account of Helena Normanton's life and career, Judith Bourne tells of her fight to join the Bar of England and Wales and open it up to women.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• Legal history

Informations

• Publié par: Waterside Press
• Date de parution: 30 novembre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781910979167
• Langue: English

Extrait

Helena Normanton and the Opening of the Bar to Women
Judith Bourne
With a Foreword by Mary Jane Mossman
Copyright and Publication Details
Helena Normanton and the Opening of the Bar to Women
Judith Bourne
ISBN 978-1-909976-32-0 (Paperback)
ISBN 978-1-910979-16-7 (Epub ebook)
ISBN 978-1-910979-17-4 (Adobe ebook)
Copyright © 2016 This work is the copyright of Judith Bourne. All intellectual property and associated rights are hereby asserted and reserved by her in full compliance with UK, European and international law. No part of this book may be copied, reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, or in any language, including in hard copy or via the internet, without the prior written permission of the publishers to whom all such rights have been assigned worldwide.
Cover design © 2016 Waterside Press.
Main UK distributor Gardners Books, 1 Whittle Drive, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QH . Tel: [phone]; [e-mail] ; www.gardners.com
North American distribution Ingram Book Company, One Ingram Blvd, La Vergne, TN 37086, USA. Tel: [phone]; [e-mail]
Cataloguing-In-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library.
Printed by Lightning Source.
e-book Helena Normanton and the Opening of the Bar to Women is available as an ebook and also to subscribers of Myilibrary, Dawsonera, ebrary, and Ebscohost.
Published 2016 by
Waterside Press
Sherfield Gables
Sherfield-on-Loddon
Hook, Hampshire
United Kingdom RG27 0JG
Telephone [phone]
E-mail [e-mail]
Online catalogue WatersidePress.co.uk
Table of Contents
Copyright and Publication Details ii
About the author ix
Acknowledgments x
List of Abbreviations xi
Dedication xiii
Foreword: (Re)Discovering Helena Normanton xv
The author of the Foreword xviii
Introduction 19
A single goal in life 19
A hidden story 19
Women and the law 20
Arrangement of chapters 21
Helena Normanton’s legacy 22 Helena Normanton’s Early Years 23
Who was Helena Normanton? 25
Education 28
Pupil teacher 30
Teacher training 33
Teaching career and further education 36
As good as any man 43 Helena in Context: The Struggles for Women’s Equal Rights 45
Locating Helena’s feminism 45
The influence of feminism on Helena’s career 49
Normanton’s involvement with the feminist movement 51
Lack of legal personhood 55
Overcoming inequalities 63 Closed Doors at the Inns of Court 65
The 1919 legislation 66
Attorneys, infants and serfs 69
Quasi-lawyers and legal challenges 70
Membership and clientele 76
The purpose of membership of an Inn of Court. 77
A legal oligarchy 78
Helena’s application to join Middle Temple 79
First rejection 81
The stated reasons for Helena’s rejection 82
Claud Schuster 86
Seeking publicity 88
Appeal outcome 90
February 1919 92
Lord Buckmaster’s Bill 94
Support 95
Carrying the burden 96
The second Bill: Women’s Emancipation Bill 97
Sex Disqualification (Removal) Bill 99
July 1919 100
Victory 102 After Joining an Inn 105
Triumph 105
The press reports 106
Congratulations 108
Helena’s first dinner at Middle Temple 109
A separate table whilst dining? 110
The number of women entrants to an Inn of Court 111
The acceptable face of the female Bar student 112
Celebration dinners 113
Women Bar students 116
Disciplinary inquiry at Middle Temple 119
Understanding the inquiry 122
Second allegation of self-advertising 124
Helena’s peers: Other women Bar students 125
Photographs 127
Bar finals 127
Pupillage 128
26 October 1921 130
Her professional name 131
Call night 17 November 1922 134 Helena Normanton’s Emerging Legal Career 137
Number of women called to the Bar in November 1922 137
The age of Helena Helena’s female contemporaries 138
Women in practice in 1922 139
Class 140
‘[D]espite being present in the divorce court with another female barrister she still had not been briefed’ 140
Searle v Searle 143
Gathering storm clouds: Rejected by the Western Circuit 147
The issue of self-advertising, April 1923 148
Rose Heilbron: Similar problems 150
Professional jealousy 150
Missing case book 152
‘Stick to my choice’ 154
More professional jealousy 158
Supporting women at the Royal Courts of Justice 158 America 159
The American connection 159
A passport in her maiden name 161
American Interest in Helena Normanton 162
Arriving in New York 165
Appearance as a witness 166
Other engagements 168
Return to England 168
Gossip in Helena’s absence 168
‘Privileged to have met you’ 169 Back On Home Soil 171
Libel 172
Evidence of commitment: Moody v Lee and Beaulah 172
Publicity and ‘con-men’ 174
Ill health 174
Public service 175
A job offer 176
Fee book No.2 177
Accounts 1937–1938 178
R v Aynsley 1930 179
A typical ‘hotel case’ 181
Another change of chambers 182
Assizes and Quarter Sessions: More dock briefs 182
Failed prosecution 184
A proposed Association of Women Barristers 185
Further accusations of self-advertising 186
Benson v Benson Divorce 188
Breach of promise 190
Lady Emma Clark Beilby’s will: A rare Chancery brief 191
Sustaining a practice 191
‘A barrister’s years as a junior are normally of immense interest to himself, but a little tedious in the narration’ 192
Further disappointment: Passed over by the Bar Council 194
‘Shall we ever see a woman judge?’ 196
The Saarinen incident 1938 203
Second attempt at a judicial post 205 Later Legal Work and Helena Normanton’s Attitude To Practice 207
Another disciplinary inquiry 207
September 1939 208
Missing fee book 209
Wartime legal work 210
When the war was over 210
1948 212
King’s Counsel 213
Retirement 215
‘Professions produce services rather than goods’ 219
Publishing: A means to survival 220
Famous Trials series 222
Articles 223
A meeting with Wallis Simpson 224
Public speaking 226
1957: Final writing 226
Prisoners 226
The Bar: A career for a woman? 234 Campaigns 237
Other interests 251
Social justice and firm beliefs 251 Helena’s Death 253
Selected Bibliography 255
Index 259
About the author
Judith Bourne is an academic at St Mary’s University, Twickenham and Co-Director of the Centre for Law and Culture. She founded and chairs the First Women Lawyers in Great Britain and the Empire Symposia. With a doctorate from King’s College, London, Judith formerly practised as a barrister. Her research focuses on Feminist Perspectives on Law, Land Law and Equity and Trusts Law. She is an advocate of taking higher education into prisons.
Acknowledgments
With special thanks to Pat Thane for all her help, guidance and patience. Much gratitude is owed to the librarians at the British Library, the Inns of Court, in particular Lesley Whitelaw at Middle Temple, and the Women’s Library for their assistance and kindness. Many thanks are owed to Judith Hodson, archivist at Varndean, for her generosity. I am indebted to Frances Burton for her unfailing kindness during the preparation of this book and in particular for our monthly ‘reading’ meetings in the British Library (and for all the tea and cake). Gratitude is also owed to Lady Brenda Hale for reading and commenting on an early draft of the book, and to Caroline Derry and Avis Whyte for their constant encouragement and help. Mary Jane Mossman answered an unsolicited email from me and returned it with an abundance of information and warm encouragement then agreed to write a Foreword for which I am extremely grateful. Patrick Polden also met with me and provided invaluable help. Thank you to the researchers who have found me: Rose Pipes and Elizabeth Cruickshank and for sharing their knowledge. Thanks are also due to Mari Takayanagi for sharing her work on the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919. I am grateful to Robert Walker and Christopher Forsythe who have been invaluable in providing information about the Bar. I am sincerely grateful to Bryan and Alex Gibson at Waterside Press for all their help in the publication of this book. Bryan in particular has understood and shared my desire to tell Helena’s story; I was very lucky to have been put in touch with him. I am also grateful to my whole extended ‘family’ (that includes friends) for their support and love. Many thanks are owed to Sister Francoise for all her confidence in me. And finally, apologies to my children who have suffered an often absent mother, and to a husband without whom this would never have been written.
Judith Bourne
June 2016
List of Abbreviations
AWB Association of Women Barristers
Bebb Bebb v Law Society [1914] 1 Ch. 286
CLE Council of Legal Education
CMW Council of Married Women
DLRU Divorce Law Reform Union
LNSWS London and National Society for Women’s Service
MPITRC Married Person’s Income Tax Reform Council
MT Middle Temple
MWA Married Women’s Association
NFWT National Federation of Women Teachers
NCEC National Council for Equal Citizenship
NCW National Council of Women
NUSEC National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship
NUWSS National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies
NWCA National Women Citizen’s Association
TNA The National Archives
UWV Union of Women Voters
WL Women’s Library
WFL Women’s Freedom League
WSPU Women’s Social and Political Union
Foreword: (Re)Discovering Helena Normanton
Judith Bourne’s account of Helena Normanton is timely and important. It is timely because the centenary of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 is approaching, and the story of Normanton’s experiences as one of the first women barristers in the United Kingdom needs to become more widely known and appreciated. And it is an important one because she was among the earliest cohort of pioneer women lawyers in Britain, women who necessarily challenged male exclusivity to enter the legal prof