Ada Emily Evans (17 May 1872 – 27 December 1947), was an Australian lawyer and the first female law graduate in Australia.

Early life

Evans was born in

Wanstead Wanstead () is an area in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge to the east and Manor Park to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is located 8 m ...

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(then a town in

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county, now a north-eastern suburb of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

), the daughter of

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Henry Evans and his wife Louisa, who came from a family of lawyers. She attended school in the London suburb of Woodford, before her family moved to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1883. There she attended

Sydney Girls High School Sydney Girls High School (abbreviated as SGHS or Sydney Girls) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex school, single-sex Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary school, secondar ...

, and began her tertiary education at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1895. Following graduation, she intended to establish a school with her sister in the inner-western suburb of Summer Hill, but abandoned the project after a period of illness.

Legal career

Later, encouraged by her mother Louisa, Evans enrolled again at the University of Sydney in 1899, this time in the

Sydney Law School Sydney Law School (informally Sydney Law or SLS) is the law school at the University of Sydney, Australia, Australia's oldest university. Sydney Law School began a full program of legal instruction in 1890 following the appointment of its first d ...

. Although the

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

of the school at the time,

Pitt Cobbett William Pitt Cobbett (26 July 1853 – 17 October 1919) was an Australian academic, jurist, and editor.Hutley F. C. (1981.) "Cobbett, William Pitt (1853–1919)" in ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', vol. 8, Melbourne University Press. Cobbe ...

, would by all accounts never have permitted a woman to enrol, he was absent overseas and Evans was able to enter the school. On his return, he declared to Evans "that she did not have the physique for law and would find medicine more suitable". The rules of practice in force in New South Wales at the time did not comprehend female lawyers, and there was no precedent of women becoming lawyers; when Evans attempted to register as a student-at-law with the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian States and territories of Australia, State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil law (common law), civil matters, and hears ...

, her application was rejected. Although the rules of practice legislation did not actually disqualify women from becoming lawyers, the

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

at the time held that unless legislation specifically conferred rights or privileges on women, it did not apply to them, for women were not included in the definition of persons. Despite these setbacks, Evans persisted with her studies, and on 26 December 1902 graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree, the first woman in Australia to do so. Ada Emily Evans 4

Admission to New South Wales Bar Association

After graduating, Evans applied for admission to the New South Wales Bar to practise as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, but again her application was rejected on the basis of her sex. She was similarly prevented from being admitted to the

English Bar Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

. Evans and her supporters in women's organisations commenced a campaign for the laws to be changed to specifically allow women to practise. Such laws were enacted in other

Australian states The states and territories are the national subdivisions and second level of government of Australia. The states are partially sovereign, administrative divisions that are self-governing polities, having ceded some sovereign rights to the feder ...

to specifically allow the admission of women, and in 1905

Flos Greig Grata Flos Matilda Greig (7 November 1880 – 31 December 1958), Scottish-born Australian lawyer, was the first woman to be admitted to practise as a barrister and solicitor in Australia. Early life and education Grata Flos Matilda Greig ( ...

became the first female barrister in Australia, when she was admitted to the

Victorian Bar The Victorian Bar is the bar association of the Australian State of Victoria. The 2024-2025 President of the Bar is Justin Hannebery KC. Its members are barristers registered to practice in Victoria. Those who have been admitted to practice ...

(having become the first

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

female law graduate in 1903). At this time, Evans also edited a weekly

women's page The women's page (sometimes called home page or women's section) of a newspaper was a section devoted to covering news assumed to be of interest to women. Women's pages started out in the 19th century as Society reporting, society pages and event ...

in the ''

Australian Star ''The Australian Star'' was a daily English-language newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, from 1887 to 1909. It was published as ''The Star'', also known as ''The Star: the Australian Evening Daily'', until 1910 and then r ...

'' newspaper, her work incorporating "an underlying theme that truth and kindness were essential ingredients for human happiness." The

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales, formally the Legislature of New South Wales, (definition of "The Legislature") is the bicameral legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It consists of the Monarch, the New South Wa ...

finally altered the law to enable women to practise law, with the passage of the ''

Women's Legal Status Act 1918 A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or Adolescence, adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functi ...

'' late in 1918. Evans registered as a student-at-law in May 1919 and on 12 May 1921, after the requisite two years as a student, became the first woman to be admitted to the New South Wales Bar. However, although she was offered work as a barrister immediately, she declined to practise, citing her family commitments and the passage of time since her graduation and saying that she didn't want "women's standing in the profession to be undermined by a show of incompetence".

Later life

In 1909, Evans and her brother moved to the town of

Bowral Bowral () is the largest town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. It is south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It is the main business and entertainment precinct of the Wingecarribee Shire and the Southern Highl ...

in the New South Wales Southern Highlands, where they bought a six hectare farming property called Kurkulla, where she died, aged 75, in 1947. She was cremated in Sydney.

Ada Evans Chambers

In 1998, Sydney barrister Michael Maxwell opened a new barristers chambers in downtown Sydney NSW, named in honour of Ada Evans. The chambers was officially opened on 20 November 1998 by the Honourable Justice

Mary Gaudron Mary Genevieve Gaudron (born 5 January 1943) is an Australian lawyer and judge, who was the first female Justice of the High Court of Australia. She was the Solicitor-General of New South Wales from 1981 until 1987 before her appointment to t ...

of the High Court of Australia. The opening was attended by Katherine Morgan (née Evans), solicitor who was admitted in 1989. She is the first relative of Ada Evans to become a lawyer and is Ada's cousin's great granddaughter. Mrs Morgan presented the Chambers with a copy of Ada Evans' graduation photograph from the University of Sydney.
Ada Evans Chambers
continues to operate today with a membership of 30 barristers with founding member Michael Maxwell still on the floor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Ada 1872 births 1947 deaths Lawyers from Sydney People from Bowral People from Wanstead Sydney Law School alumni People educated at Sydney Girls High School English emigrants to colonial Australia Australian women lawyers