Despite being 35 before she was called to the bar, Barbara Calvert QC, Lady Lowry, who has died aged 89, became not just a highly respected legal practitioner, but achieved a number of trailblazing firsts, and was an inspiration to other women. In the 1970s, increasingly concerned about the number of young people who were unable to get a place in chambers from which to practise, she decided to do something about it: in 1974, she set up her own chambers, Four Brick Court, to help those starting out, so becoming the first female head of chambers.
In 1986, she became the first female QC to be appointed a full-time chair of Industrial Tribunals (having been a deputy since 1974). She also sat as a recorder and deputy high court judge. Following her retirement, in 2001 she became chair of the Grandparents’ Association, which works on behalf of grandparents who are separated from their grandchildren.
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