Lane, Elizabeth (1905–1988)
Lane, Elizabeth (1905–1988)
English lawyer. Name variations: Dame Elizabeth Lane. Born Elizabeth Kathleen Coulbourn, 1905, in England; died 1988; educated privately and attended Malvern Girls College; m. Henry Lane (barrister), 1926 (died 1975); children: 1 son (died young).
Became a barrister at Inner Temple (1940) and member of Home Office Committee on Depositions in Criminal Cases (1948); was assistant recorder of Birmingham (1953–61), recorder for Derby (1961–62), and commissioner of the Crown Courts at Manchester and a Circuit Court judge (1962–65); became the 1st female High Court judge in England, attached to the Family Division, and was also chair of Committee on the Abortion Acts (1971–73); was the 1st woman barrister to appear in the House of Lords on a murder case and the 1st judge to work part-time; remained on High Court until retirement (1979). Created DBE (1965).
See also Hear the Other Side, Audi ad Alteram Partem: The Autobiography of England's First Woman Judge (Butterworths, 1985).