King Edward Street

This stop honours Dr Ivy Williams (1877-1966), the first woman to be called to the English Bar and the first woman to teach law at a British university (in May 1922).

Although she graduated in 1900, women weren’t granted the right to equal degrees at the University Oxford until 1920. Following this legislative change, she finally received her BA, MA, and BCL degrees in October of that year. Women were first admitted to the ‘Inns of Court’ in 1920, following the passing of the Sex Discrimination (Removal) Act 1919, and she joined the ‘Inner Temple’ on 26th January that year. She received a certificate of honour (first class) in her final Bar exams, achieving the second-highest marks out of 123 candidates. Following a long campaign (from 1904-1922) on her part for women to be admitted to the English Bar, she was the first woman to be admitted, though she never practised as a barrister. From 1920 to 1945 Ivy Williams was a tutor and lecturer in law to the ‘Society of Oxford Home-Students’.

Ivy has now been commemorated with a blue plaque on King Edward Street.