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Supreme Court:
A celebration of the First 100 Years

Our Stories

This space is dedicated to the personal experiences of those who have lived, shaped, or been inspired by the journey of women in law. From reflections on career beginnings to moments of challenge, mentorship, and achievement, Your Stories brings together the voices that continue to enrich the profession. By sharing these narratives, we honour individual journeys, build collective understanding, and ensure that the legacy of women in law remains vibrant and human.

First 100 Years is the national campaign which led the celebrations for the centenary of women in law during a 5-year period, between 2014 –2019. A groundbreaking history project that gained support from all corners of the legal profession, including the Law Society of England & Wales, the Law Society of Scotland, the Bar Council, CILEx and the Magistrates Association, First 100 Years has been charting the history of women in law since the enactment of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919, which paved the way for women to become lawyers.

It set out to celebrate the past to change the future for women in the legal profession through a multimedia approach that would seek to generate a positive discourse around gender equality and diversity across the legal profession.

The project’s founder, Dana Denis-Smith, came across a photograph (above) in an alumni magazine for a well-known law firm and found the woman in the centre, later identified as Dorothy Livingston, particularly striking, and she wondered what Dorothy must have felt like as the only woman. This kick-started Dana’s interest in the experience of women in the profession, and she began researching the topic when she discovered the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919, realising women could only be part of the legal profession for less than 100 years.

Recognising that the centenary would be coming up in only a few years, Dana felt this occasion needed to be marked and set about creating the project to highlight the achievements of women in those 100 years and to make current generations aware of this important milestone. Dana Denis-Smith, CEO of Obelisk Support and founder of the First 100 Years campaign, said at its launch, in March 2014:

“People don’t know their history – who the first woman solicitor was, for instance. There is no archive like the First 100 Years to help us place ourselves in history.”

Our Mission Statement

The First 100 Years project was dedicated to women in the legal profession and was set up to chart their progress over the last 100 years. It remains the most ambitious multimedia project to introduce the history of women in law to the widest possible audience, serving as a visual, structured, and engaging storyteller of often untold and lost stories of pioneering women. Its initial campaign budget was raised through a crowdfunding campaign in October 2015, allowing us to start filming. A film was created to encourage crowdfunding; this can be seen here. In June 2016, we received charitable status for our charity, Spark21. This allowed us to secure more widespread individual and corporate financial support. The objectives of Spark21 is for the public benefit to:

To ensure a strong and equal future for all women in the legal profession by raising awareness about their history and inspiring future generations of lawyers. advance education in the subject of women in the legal and other professions;

• Promote equality and diversity, and in particular the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of gender

• Advance the arts, in particular but without limitation by commissioning, establishing, maintaining, publishing and performing (as applicable) works of art.