[2][3] She was a child actress, appearing on Children's Hour in productions of E. Nesbit's plays and in two comedy films made in Manchester in 1948, Cup-tie Honeymoon and Holidays with Pay.
As women were not able to attend bar mess dinners, she was elected to the circuit at the business court instead.
She was largely responsible for drafting, and oversaw the introduction of, the Children Act 1989, serving as Family Law Division Liaison Judge in the Royal Courts of Justice from 1990 to 1997; she was also Chair of the Children Act Advisory Committee from 1993 to 1997.
[2] She was awarded an honorary LLD by Manchester University in 1991, and was appointed Fellow, Royal Society of Arts in 1994.
[2] Dame Joyanne Bracewell died of metastasized breast cancer on 9 January 2007, aged 72, at St Margaret's Hospice, Yeovil, Somerset.