Margaret Kidd

Dame Margaret Henderson Kidd, Mrs MacDonald DBE QC (14 March 1900 – 22 March 1989) was a Scottish legal advocate, editor and politician.

Early life

Kidd was born on 14 March 1900 in Carriden, near Bo'ness in West Lothian, Scotland.[1] She was the elder daughter of nine children[2] to her father James Kidd, solicitor and Unionist MP for Linlithgowshire, and Janet Gardner Kidd (née Turnbull), a schoolteacher. She was educated at Linlithgow Academy and graduated with an MA and LLB from the University of Edinburgh in 1922.[3]

Career

After training with Mitchell & Baxter WS,[4] she was called in 1923 to the Faculty of Advocates, the Scottish bar, becoming its first female member, and its only one until 1948. In 1928, upon the death of her father, she contested his parliamentary seat at the by-election, also as a Unionist, but was defeated by Emanuel Shinwell.

She was the first lady advocate to appear before the House of Lords and before a parliamentary select committee; and in 1948 became the first British woman King's Counsel in Britain. She was appointed Sheriff Principal (the first woman to occupy this post) for Dumfries and Galloway in 1960,[5] and Sheriff Principal of Perth and Angus from 1966 to her retirement in 1974. She was the editor of the Court of Session law reports of the Scots Law Times from 1942-76.[6]

Kidd served as Keeper of the Advocates Library 1956–1969.[7]

Apart from her legal work she maintained an active public and charitable role. She was a founder member of the Stair Society and a vice-president of the Federation of University Women and the Electrical Association for Women. She had then become the vice-president of the Federation of University Women[2] Queen's Nursing Institute. Kidd also championed improving women's access to work and promoted equal opportunities. In 1930, she made a speech at Glasgow University entitled "Law as a Profession of Women" where she commented on the difficulty of being a female advocate given they were dependent on male solicitors for work, and discussed how old lawyers were "inclined to be distrustful of women". The Scotsman reported: "she did not want them to think that she had not received fair play. She had had an easy time, but she did not think that she had been so successful as she would have been had she been a man."[8]

Awards

She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1975 Birthday Honours.[9] She received an honorary LLD from the University of Dundee in 1982[10] and the University of Edinburgh in 1984.[3]

Personal life

In 1930, she married Donald Somerled MacDonald, WS. They had a daughter, Anne.[1] Her husband died in 1958.[3] Margaret had a number of interests beyond the law, including politics. She supported Scotland remaining in the United Kingdom, and believed that trade would grow worse if Scotland became independent.[8]

Death

She died on 22 March 1989 in Cambridge, England, aged 89.[11] A funeral service was held at the Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh.[1] A eulogy by Lord Hope of Craighead concluded: "Her success was won by strength of character, courage and integrity and it is a mark of her true qualities that, despite what might seem to be the revolutionary nature of her achievements, she always held the affection and respect of others."[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Scotland's History: Dame Margaret Henderson Kidd QC". 14 March 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 info@undiscoveredscotland.co.uk, Undiscovered Scotland:. "Dame Margaret Kidd: Biography on Undiscovered Scotland". www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Dame Margaret Kidd, pioneer of women in law, dies aged 89". The Glasgow Herald. 27 March 1989. p. 16. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  4. ↑ First Hundred Years
  5. ↑ "Scotland's First Woman Sheriff". The Glasgow Herald. 25 March 1960. p. 1. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  6. ↑ Ewan, Elizabeth. The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women. p. 196.
  7. ↑ "Woman's historic legal selection". BBC News. 24 November 2004. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  8. 1 2 "Margaret Kidd". First 100 Years. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  9. ↑ "Leaders in law and public service". The Glasgow Herald. 14 June 1975. p. 3. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  10. ↑ "Royal visitor at graduation". The Glasgow Herald. 17 July 1982. p. 3. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  11. ↑ Poole, Isobel Anne. "Margaret Kidd". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
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