Elizabeth Glendinning Kirkwood Hewat (16 September 1895 – 13 October 1968) was the first woman to graduate BD and PhD at New College, University of Edinburgh, a missionary, a campaigner for women's equality in the Church of Scotland, and a historian of Scottish missions.

[2] Hewat believed that in order to fully prepare for missionary work that she should be ordained by the church.

This led to a debate on women's ordination during the 1926 United Free Church General Assembly, however, the motion was not passed.

[1] Once there, she was a teaching missionary and followed her own scholarly interests by researching comparative literature in Hebrew and Confucian Wisdom.

Every year the request was renewed and in 1967 the six found that they were not allowed to lobby the men who were making the decision—so they decided to hold a press conference.