Agnes McWhinney (1891–1987) was a solicitor in
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia. She was one of the first female solicitors in Australia, following Victoria's Flos Greig (admitted to practice in 1905) and Anna Brennan (in 1911).
Early life
Agnes McWhinney was born on 25 September 1891 at Ravenswood Junction (now known as
Mingela
Mingela is a rural town and locality in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Mingela had a population of 14 people.
Geography
Mingela railway station is on the Great Northern railway from Townsville t ...
) in Queensland, the daughter of Andrew McWhinney and his wife Margaret (née McIntyre). She attended
Townsville Grammar School
Townsville Grammar School is an independent, co-educational, day, International Baccalaureate and boarding school, located in Townsville.
Established in 1888, it is the northernmost member of the Queensland grammar schools. From its foundati ...
.
Career
McWhinney's ambition was to become a doctor, but the cost of attending medical school in Sydney was very expensive. Her brother Joseph McWhinney was completing his
Articles of Clerkship
Articled clerk is a title used in Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries for one who is studying to be an accountant or a lawyer. In doing so, they are put under the supervision of someone already in the profession, now usually for two ye ...
at solicitors, Wilson and Ryan, in Townsville and he persuaded her to pursue the law instead. In 1910, Wilson and Ryan accepted Agnes McWhinney as an articled clerk.
Although Justice
Pope Cooper of the Northern
Supreme Court of Queensland
The Supreme Court of Queensland is the highest court in the Australian State of Queensland. It was formerly the Brisbane Supreme Court, in the colony of Queensland.
The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court allows its trial division to ...
disliked the idea of women entering the legal profession, he was unable to find any basis to refuse her and so admitted her to practise as a solicitor on 7 December 1915.
However, she then had to repeatedly protest to be paid a comparable wage to male solicitors.
Later life
On 23 March 1920, McWhinney married Lowell Mason Osborne and discontinued her paid employment and only did legal work as a community service.
On 5 October 1926, McWhinney was present when Katherine Elizabeth McGregor became the first female barrister in Queensland when she was admitted to the Queensland Bar Association.
Agnes Osborne died in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
on 2 August 1985. She was buried in
Toowong Cemetery
Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland, Queensland's lar ...
.
Legacy
The Queensland Law Society has an annual Agnes McWhinney Award to recognise the contributions of a female lawyer.
See also
*
First women lawyers around the world
This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in each country. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are the first women in their country to achieve a certain distinction su ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McWhinney, Agnes
People from North Queensland
Australian women lawyers
1891 births
1987 deaths
20th-century women lawyers
People educated at Townsville Grammar School