Letitia Alice Walkington ( – 28 May 1918) was an Anglo-Irish lawyer who was the first woman to graduate with a degree of

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, which she received from the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was a university in Ireland that existed from 1879 to 1909. It was founded in accordance with the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the ...

Early life

Letitia Alice Walkington was born about 1857 in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and lived most of her life on Belmont Road in

Strandtown Strandtown is a district of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is in the east of the city, in the BT4 postcode area, lying south of the City Airport and north of the Newtownards Road. The author C.S. Lewis (1898–1963) lived in the district as a ch ...

. She was the daughter of Letitia (''née'' Von Heyn) and Thomas R. Walkington. Her father was a descendant of Anglican Bishop Edward Walkington and her mother was the daughter of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

and Belfast ship owner, Gustav von Heyn. Letitia had at least one sister, Edith. The family were well connected in the city; in 1913 Edith and Letitia were both left £200 by

Gustav Wilhelm Wolff Gustav Wilhelm Wolff (14 November 1834 – 17 April 1913) was a German-born British shipbuilder and politician. Born in Hamburg, he moved to Liverpool in 1849 to live with his uncle, Gustav Christian Schwabe. After serving his apprenticeship ...

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...

. She did not attend school until she was 16, instead being educated at home by governess. Then she went to a boarding schools in England and Paris.

Education and law

Walkington took the matriculation exam to attend the

and passed in October 1882. As this was prior to the

Irish Universities Act 1908 The Royal University of Ireland was a university in Ireland that existed from 1879 to 1909. It was founded in accordance with the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the ...

, women who had passed the matriculation exam for the Royal University were also permitted to take classes at

Queen's College, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

. Her mentor was the barrister Mr. Thomas Harrison. She completed her

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in 1885 and her

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in 1886, both in the area of Logic, Metaphysic, and Political Economy. She then completed her

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1888 and her

LL.D A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

in 1889 becoming the first woman to complete these last three degrees. She was offered several positions from solicitors offices but although she could have completed chamber work, she instead coached other young women for examinations since there were limited opportunities for them in the schools. She did this along with Frances Helena Gray, the only other female law graduate, and Miss Hamilton. Walkington also worked on a device for embossing

Braille Braille ( , ) is a Tactile alphabet, tactile writing system used by blindness, blind or visually impaired people. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone device ...

Women's suffrage

She was active in the suffrage movement and the temperance movement. In 1889 Walkington took part in the "Congres International des Oeuvres et Institutions Feminines" in connection with the

Paris Exhibition Paris Exposition or Paris Exhibition can refer to * French Industrial Exposition of 1844 * Exposition des produits de l'industrie française, held intermittently from 1798 to 1849 * Exposition Universelle (1855), the Paris Exposition of 1855 * Expos ...

as part of the Dublin Women's Suffrage Committee. She founded the Belfast Women's Suffrage Society in 1912 with Miss Montgomery, which became the Women's Political League in 1918, and helped start the Irish Women's Suffrage Federation. She also served as secretary for the Belfast chapter of the

Church League for Women's Suffrage The Church League for Women's Suffrage (CLWS) was an organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. The league was started in London, but by 1913 it had branches across England, in Wales and Scotland and Ireland. Aims an ...

and worked with the Irish Women's Temperance Union. She was working to form a women's voters union shortly before she died. She died on 28 May 1918 in Belfast and was buried at Knockbreda Cemetery in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walkington, Letitia Alice 1850s births 1918 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Lawyers from Belfast Alumni of the Royal University of Ireland People educated at Methodist College Belfast 20th-century Irish women lawyers 20th-century Irish lawyers 19th-century Irish women 19th-century Irish lawyers 19th-century British women lawyers