It is striking how little was made of Anderson’s achievement, particularly in comparison to the degree of fame, even of notoriety, enjoyed by similar pioneers in England. Anderson’s career was not widely reported in Scottish legal publications, although one newspaper reproduced a photograph of her in her graduation robes following her petition
Alison Lindsay
Madge Easton Anderson (1896-1982) was the first woman in the United Kingdom to qualify as a solicitor in December 1920, following a successful petition to the Court of Session (Scotland’s highest civil court), although the decision was not formally registered until January 1921. She was also the first woman qualified to practise law in both Scotland and England, and to be a partner in the first UK law firm to be run exclusively by women.
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- News-clipping of Madge Easton Anderson from the Glasgow Herald December 16, 1920
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- News-clipping of Madge Easton Anderson from the Glasgow Herald December 16, 1920
The full version of this landmark is written by Alison Lindsay.
Learn More
Hector L MacQueen ‘Scotland’s First Women Law Graduates: A Centenary’ [2009] Edinburgh Law School Working Papers Series http://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/14179746/MacQueen_Scotland_s_first_women_law_graduates.pdf