Beatrice Honour Davy

Beatrice Honour Davy (December 13, 1885 – April 18, 1966) was a British barrister and later solicitor in the first British law firm run exclusively by women.

Beatrice Honour Davy
BornDecember 13, 1885
Exeter
DiedApril 18, 1966
Woodmancote
NationalityUnited Kingdom
EducationKing’s College, London
Occupationbarrister and later solicitor
Known forearly woman lawyer

Life

Davy was born in Exeter in 1885. Her father was a physician and the Sheriff of Exeter in 1887 and he was Sir Henry Davy after the war when he was knighted for his work. Her mother was a solicitor's daughter Beatrice Mary (born Tucker) who was her father's first wife as she died in 1906.[1]

During the first world war her only brother was killed and she assisted Dame Georgina Buller in organising the Devon Group of War Hospitals.[2]

The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act was passed in 1919 allowing women to be lawyers and in 1921 she graduated from King’s College, London with a LLB law degree. She became a student member of the Middle Temple on 24 January 1920.[3] In 17 December 1922 she was admitted to the Middle Temple among the first eight women to be allowed entry.[4] In 1923, she was the first woman to be a barrister at the Devon Assizes in Exeter.[2] She won the divorce case for the abandoned husband in Weber v. Weber & Payne. Three years later she joined The Inner Temple, ad eundem.[4]

Davy practised law in London in the first British law firm run exclusively by women, with legal partner Edith Annie Berthen in 1931[4] Later Madge Easton Anderson was articled to that firm.[5] Anderson would become the first woman qualified to practice as a solicitor in both England and Scotland in 1937 and in the same year she would become a partner in Berthen's and Davy's law firm.[4]

Davy practised law until 1951.[4] She died in Woodmancote in 1966. She left her estate to a friend, Elizabeth Hunt.[3]

gollark: Not only is it not actually *true* that "every server" bans them, but that doesn't mean that "every server" makes a good decision.
gollark: Bad justification.
gollark: If someone asks for a thing, it's entirely conversationally relevant to give them it.
gollark: Just ban *unsolicited* invites.
gollark: I disagree, as ever.

References
  1. "Sir Henry Davy | RCP Museum". history.rcplondon.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
  2. "ExeterMemories - Southernhay House Hotel". www.exetermemories.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
  3. "Davy, Beatrice Honour (1885–1966), barrister and later solicitor". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.111933. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
  4. "Beatrice Davy | Inner Temple". 2019-12-10. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
  5. Lindsay, Alison (8 November 2018). "Anderson, Madge Easton". doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.111935. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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