Ivy Williams

Born in September 1877 in Devon. In 1923, she endowed two law scholarships at Oxford in memory of her brother, Winter Williams, who became a barrister but died in World War I. Ivy studied Law at the ‘Society of Oxford Home-Students’ which was later fully incorporated into the University of Oxford as St Anne’s College. Although she completed her law examinations in 1903, she was prevented from receiving her BA, MA, and BCL until the University changed its regulations and allowed women to matriculate in October 1920. She taught law at the University from 1920 until 1945, the first woman to teach law at an English university.

In 1923, she became the first woman to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Civil Law in Oxford for her published work. In her spare time, she enjoyed travelling, tennis, and gardening. In her later years, when her eyesight grew weak, she taught herself to read Braille, and systematised the learning of Braille into a primer, which was published for the ‘National Institute for the Blind’ in 1948. She is remembered for her persistent yet measured resolve to open access to the Bar. While she never practised law, she opened the door for other women to become barristers.

Ivy died in Oxford in 1966, and there is now a blue plaque at her former home on King Edwards Street.