First 100 Years

First 100 Years is a campaign owned and managed by Spark21, a charity registered in England & Wales, set up to celebrate the centenary of women being able to join the legal profession in the United Kingdom and Ireland as a result of Parliament passing the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act in 1919.

There is no archive like the First 100 Years to help us place ourselves in history.”[8] The campaign initially started as a video project documenting the lives of leading women in law of the last century.

Some of the films released to date are those of the following legal personalities: Baroness Brenda Hale Mary Arden, Lady Arden Baroness Helena Kennedy Cherie Booth QC Dame Linda Dobbs Dame Rosalyn Higgins Major General Susan Ridge Sandie Okoro The project has been gathering statements and create biographies which depict the journey of women in the law since 1919, with the aim of creating the first digital museum dedicated to the history of women in law.

[10] The project aims to create a positive account of the history of women in law, in contrast to the ‘negative narrative of the diversity debate’,[11] and to ‘celebrate the past and change the future of the profession’.

From early campaigners through to the first women solicitors, barristers, magistrates and judges, the book tells the often untold stories of the pioneers, reformers and influencers who paved the way, revealing the barriers they faced, their challenges and triumphs.

Charting through photographs and historical artefacts the milestones since the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 put the first cracks in the glass ceiling of the legal profession, this book offers not only a unique celebration of the progress achieved by women in the law, but a vital reminder of how much work there still is to do.” – The Secret Barrister “A fascinating and indispensable insight into the female pioneers of the legal profession.” – Caroline Criado-Perez