Ethel Benjamin

Ethel Benjamin 1897

Ethel Benjamin at the opening of the Dunedin Law Court in 1902.

Ethel Rebecca Benjamin (born January 19, 1875 in Dunedin , † October 14, 1943 in Middlesex ) was New Zealand's first female lawyer. On September 17, 1897, she became the first woman in the British Empire to appear in court as a lawyer, representing a client in debt recovery. She was the second woman in the empire to be admitted as a barrister and solicitor two months after Clara Brett Martin of Canada .

Early life

Benjamin was born in Dunedin in 1875 to Lizzie Mark and Henry Benjamin. Her parents had emigrated from England in the late 1860s. Harry became a stockbroker in Dunedin. They were Orthodox Jews. Benjamin was the oldest in a family with five daughters and two sons. She attended Otago Girls High School from 1883 to 1892 . There she won the "Victoria" Prize for order, diligence and punctuality as well as a Junior Scholarship from the school authorities.

Legal career

In 1892 Benjamin received a university scholarship and in 1893 she enrolled at the University of Otago to study for a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) without knowing whether she would even be able to work as a lawyer after completing her studies: " It is true that the legal profession was not open to women at the time, and that the license had not yet been granted, but I believed that a liberal colony like ours would not tolerate such artificial barriers for long. I therefore started my studies with a light heart and I am sure that I should not be excluded from using any degree for a long time. "

Benjamin graduated in July 1897 with excellent grades. The law on legal practitioners was passed in 1896 and made it possible for women to be admitted as women. On May 10, 1897, she was admitted to the bar and attorney at the New Zealand Supreme Court.

Upon graduation, Benjamin was asked to speak on behalf of all graduates. She is reported to have said, “It was only yesterday when I was asked to take on this pleasant task, and although I was deeply sensitive to the compliment, I was a little reluctant to take on so much on such short notice . But I knew that little would be expected of me, and even if I managed to speak nonsense, the benevolent verdict would be, 'Oh yes, that's all a woman can be expected to do.' "

Although she was at a disadvantage from the Otago District Law Society at the time , due to limited access to the Society's library, she opened and ran a successful law firm on Princes Street, primarily as a solicitor. Her cases included abuse of women, divorce, and adoption. Developing her private law firm has not been easy. The Law Society made it difficult for her by not inviting her to formal occasions like the annual dinner and trying to impose a dress code on her. Her main customers were the Jewish community and women with financial interests. She was one of the few 19th-century New Zealand feminists who did not advocate the abstinence movement.

Ethel Benjamin was a founding member of the Dunedin branch of the New Zealand Society for the Protection of Women and Children in 1899 and was a volunteer lawyer.

Marriage and moving

In 1906, Ethel Benjamin moved to Christchurch and ran a restaurant at the International Exhibition. In 1907 she married Alfred Mark Ralph De Costa, a Wellington stockbroker, and moved with him to Wellington. She continued her legal practice in an office next to her husband's, specializing in real estate speculation. In 1908 the De Costas moved to England and during the First World War Ethel De Costa ran a bank in Sheffield. She also worked in a law firm but was unable to fully practice until the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act against Gender Discrimination was passed in 1919 . Between the wars, the De Costas lived in southern France and Italy. Alfred died shortly before the start of World War II, Ethel continued to work as a lawyer in London. Ethel was hit by a motor vehicle and died on October 14, 1943 as a result of a fractured skull at Mount Vernon Hospital in Northwood, Middlesex, England. [3]

Honors

The Ethel Benjamin Prize for Women was established by the New Zealand Law Foundation in 1997 to mark the centenary of Ethel Benjamin becoming New Zealand's first female lawyer. Since 2007, the award, endowed with NZD 20,000, has been awarded annually to two winners.

Ethel Benjamin Place, a cul-de-sac across from the University of Otago's Central Library , was named after her during the 100th anniversary year of 1993.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Judith Mayhew: 5th Annual Ethel Benjamin Commemorative Address . In: New Zealand Law Society . September 4, 2001. Retrieved October 1, 2007.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Charlotte (ed.) Macdonald: The Book of New Zealand Women . Bridget Williams Books, 1991, ISBN 0908912048 , pp. 75-77.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Carol Brown: Benjamin, Ethel Rebecca 1875-1943 . In: Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . June 22, 2007. Retrieved October 1, 2007.
4. ↑ Ethel Benjamin . In: Monumental Stories website . Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 1, 2007. 
5. ^ Street names and plaques . Dunedin City Council. Archived from the original on June 11, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 12, 2009.