Dame Margaret Henderson

Dame Margaret Henderson Kidd QC was a pioneering woman lawyer who studied law at the University of Edinburgh. She graduated in 1922 and in 1923 was called to the Faculty of Advocates, becoming its first female member (and, until 1948, its only female member).

During an eminent legal career, Margaret became the first woman advocate to appear before the House of Lords and before a Select Committee of the House of Commons. In 1948 she became the first woman to become a King's Counsel in Britain. She went on to become Sheriff Principal (the first woman to occupy such a post) and was also Editor of the Court of Session law reports of the Scots Law Times from 1942 to 1976.

Figure 11 Dame Margaret Henderson