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The list of successful students at the
Trinity Examination held by the Council of Legal Education, published on page 12, contains the name of the first woman student to pass the final Bar examination. She is Miss Olive Catherine Clapham, of the Afiddle Temple, who passed in Class
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in May 1922), and it was incorrectly reported at the time that she was the first woman barrister. Having fulfilled the required dining terms at Middle Temple, Clapham was called to the bar on 17 November 1924. The details of her practice are not known, but when she emigrated to
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family. Her mother, Catherine
Clapham (nÊe Gill; 1862â1951), had been a schoolmistress and her father, Walter Clapham (1858â1902), was a printer, part proprietor of the Wakefield Free Press, and a Liberal councillor. Following the death of her father, the family moved to
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203:. Together they had five children: four sons (born 1928, 1929, 1933, and 1936), and one daughter (born 1943). They returned to England in 1935. She died on 7 March 1973 of heart disease in
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in her final exams in 1919, but women were not yet allowed to graduate from the
University of Oxford. She then went on to study for the
156:(BCL) degree, achieving third-class honours in June 1920. With women having been allowed to join the University of Oxford in 1920, she
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141:). She lived in the St Frideswide hostel for Roman Catholic women students. She studied English Literature, before switching to
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164:(BA) degree the same day. On 28 June 1923, she graduated with her BCL degree and, as per tradition, had her BA promoted to a
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In
October 1916, Clapham registered as a member of the Society of Oxford Home Students (this would later become
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in the second year. As such, she became one of only three female law students at the university. She achieved
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to live with her paternal aunt. She was educated at the French
Convent School in Hull run by
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In Ceylon, Clapham married George
Cockburn Miles (1898â1980), a member of the
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Caroline, Derry. "Clapham, Olive
Catherine [married name Miles (1898â1973)".
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allowed for women to become legal professionals, and
Clapham was admitted to
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134:. She also studied at the Hull and East Riding College of Music.
105:. She was the first woman pass the bar finals examinations in
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on 31 December 1926, she gave her profession as "barrister".
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101:; 21 January 1898 â 7 March 1973) was a British
85:First woman pass the bar finals examinations in
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243:(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
305:. No. 42730. 26 May 1921. p. 10.
160:on 30 October 1920 and graduated with her
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277:"Olive Clapham â 'first woman barrister'"
183:. She was not, however, the first woman
240:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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173:Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919
117:Clapham was born on 21 January 1898 in
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249:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.112040
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372:Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford
347:20th-century British women lawyers
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275:Derry, Caroline (10 May 2021).
66:Society of Oxford Home Students
362:People from Kingston upon Hull
352:British emigrants to Sri Lanka
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301:"The First Woman Barrister".
377:Members of the Middle Temple
342:20th-century British lawyers
257:UK public library membership
121:, Yorkshire, England, to a
57:French Convent School, Hull
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207:, Hertfordshire, England.
132:canonesses of St Augustine
139:St Anne's College, Oxford
367:British Roman Catholics
95:Olive Catherine Clapham
357:People from Wakefield
154:Bachelor of Civil Law
201:Ceylon Civil Service
147:second-class honours
337:British barristers
168:(MA Oxon) degree.
128:Kingston upon Hull
255:(Subscription or
181:England and Wales
107:England and Wales
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87:England and Wales
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20:Olive Clapham
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284:. Retrieved
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189:Ivy Williams
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158:matriculated
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39:(1973-03-07)
37:7 March 1973
332:1973 deaths
327:1898 births
281:Law Gazette
46:Nationality
321:Categories
259:required.)
211:References
187:(this was
72:Occupation
303:The Times
119:Wakefield
113:Biography
103:barrister
76:Barrister
54:Education
286:15 March
205:Aldbury
49:British
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194:Ceylon
99:Miles
308:III.
288:2024
171:The
34:Died
26:Born
245:doi
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