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482:(1905–2010). He became a consultant at a Liverpool hospital, and there is little doubt that the availability of medical knowledge was a great help to her in some cases. Her daughter, Hilary, was born in January 1949; Hilary also became a barrister and was in 1987 appointed a QC, the 29th woman so honoured.
412:
in 1965, but
Heilbron was appointed as the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey on 4 January 1972. She became leader of the Northern Circuit in 1973, and then followed Lane as the second woman High Court judge in 1974. Despite her background in criminal cases, which would have naturally suited
310:
in 1783 when he was aged 33. She became something of a household name, especially in her home city, when, in 1949–50, she became the first woman to lead in a murder case, when she defended the gangster George Kelly, accused of shooting dead the deputy manager of the
339:
Heilbron's successes in the first half of the 1950s included the defence of four men accused of hanging a boy during a burglary, in which she was able to show that the death had been an accident; and the defence of Louis Bloom, a solicitor from
432:, appointed Heilbron to chair a committee to consider reform of rape laws. The committee's subsequent report recommended that the identity of rape complainants should be kept secret, and that the defence should be limited in its ability to
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who was accused of murdering his mistress in his office, but was found guilty of manslaughter. However, in 1953 she was unable to save John Todd from the gallows for the murder of a shopkeeper in
Aintree.
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Heilbron practised mainly in personal injury and criminal law. Her rapid rise may have been aided by the fact that so many men were in the armed forces in the
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479:
425:. She took charge of many criminal cases while presiding judge of the Northern Circuit (the first woman Presiding Judge of any Circuit) from 1979 to 1982.
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129:
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By 1946, Heilbron had appeared in ten murder trials, and in 1949, just a few months after the birth of her daughter, she was one of the first two female
319:". He reportedly said that he was not "having a Judy defend ", but he later praised her for her painstaking defence, which led to her being named the
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was the first woman to preside at a jury trial in 1946, as deputy recorder of Deal). In 1957, she was the first woman to sit as a
Commissioner of
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and
Liverpool University, where she became one of the first two women to gain a first class honours degree in law, in 1935. She was awarded the
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312:
463:, the worldwide organisation for women in management and the professions, working to advance human rights and the status of women. She was an
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scholarship at Gray's Inn in 1936, and she became one of only two women to hold a master of laws degree in 1937. Two years later she was
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Heilbron and her husband had moved from
Liverpool to London when she was appointed a High Court judge. She died in a nursing home in
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523:
186:. Her career included many "firsts" for a woman – she was the first woman to achieve a first class honours degree in law at the
494:, of pneumonia and cerebrovascular ischaemia. A biography of Heilbron, by her daughter Hilary Heilbron, was published in 2012.
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the complainant about their sexual history in an effort to attack their character. In 1976, she was made an honorary fellow of
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524:"Hilary Heilbron on writing the life story of her mother – the late Liverpool legal pioneer Dame Rose Heilbron"
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635:
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in
November 1956, the first appointment of a woman as Recorder, although not the first time one had sat. (
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475:. It was reported that she was the first woman in Liverpool to wear a calf-length evening dress.
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when she became its treasurer in 1985. She retired from judicial office in 1988.
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Rose
Heilbron, The Story of England's First Woman Queen's Counsel and Judge
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Heilbron's hobbies included golf and walking, and she was a keen member of
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321:
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210:. She was also the second woman to be appointed a High Court judge, after
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at Gray's Inn in 1968, and was the first woman to head one of the four
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Hale, Brenda. "Heilbron, Dame Rose (1914–2005), barrister and judge".
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in
England, the first woman to lead in a murder case, the first woman
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Max
Heilbron. He assisted Jews who wanted to emigrate. She attended
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in a claim against an army officer; the unsuccessful appeal to the
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was appointed a metropolitan stipendiary magistrate in 1945, and
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s "Woman of the Year". She was unable to save Kelly from the
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In 1945, she married the Dublin-born general practitioner,
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She was junior counsel for the West Indian cricketer
348:She led in several other important cases, included
829:Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
178:(19 August 1914 – 8 December 2005) was a British
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772:Rose Heilbron: Legal Pioneer of the 20th Century
685:"Women at the Bar: an historical perspective"
194:, one of the first two women to be appointed
565:(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
404:was appointed the first female judge in the
258:during her first six years as a barrister.
336:quashed his conviction as unsafe in 2003.
306:). Aged 34, she was the youngest KC since
226:on 19 August 1914, the daughter of Jewish
190:, the first woman to win a scholarship to
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315:in Liverpool, which became known as the "
859:People educated at The Belvedere Academy
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663:First 100 Years: Rose Heilbron Biography
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364:on the presumption of a requirement for
275:, she represented two boys injured in a
749:"Dame Rose Heilbron [Obituary]"
727:"Dame Rose Heilbron [Obituary]"
562:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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384:Heilbron was appointed as Recorder for
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869:20th-century British women lawyers
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607:Morton, James (13 December 2005).
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522:Shennan, Paddy (26 October 2012).
302:at the English Bar (the other was
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884:20th-century British women judges
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351:Ormrod v Crosville Motor Services
864:Deaths from pneumonia in England
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161:many firsts in UK legal history
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370:in criminal offences in 1970.
1:
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428:In 1975, the Home Secretary,
268:Constantine v Imperial Hotels
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874:20th-century English lawyers
579:UK public library membership
7:
844:20th-century King's Counsel
774:. Oxford: Hart Publishing.
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879:20th-century English women
438:Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
417:, she was assigned to the
293:Crown Proceedings Act 1947
770:Heilbron, Hilary (2012).
469:East Lancashire Battalion
461:Soroptimist International
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16:British judge (1914–2005)
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116:Cause of death
188:University of Liverpool
144:University of Liverpool
854:Lawyers from Liverpool
849:English King's Counsel
834:Family Division judges
571:10.1093/ref:odnb/96231
415:Queen's Bench Division
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42:Heilbron in April 1949
809:Members of Gray's Inn
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279:on the beach between
265:in his case in 1944,
222:Heilbron was born in
824:English women judges
636:"Dame Rose Heilbron"
609:"Dame Rose Heilbron"
232:The Belvedere School
140:The Belvedere School
640:www.telegraph.co.uk
408:in 1962 and of the
356:vicarious liability
291:contributed to the
236:Lord Justice Holker
814:English barristers
757:. 13 December 2005
735:. 10 December 2005
666:, 20 November 2019
642:. 10 December 2005
480:Nathaniel Burstein
394:Dorothy Knight Dix
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263:Learie Constantine
172:Dame Rose Heilbron
130:Nathaniel Burstein
25:Dame Rose Heilbron
708:Hilary Heilbron.
577:(Subscription or
242:, and joined the
240:called to the bar
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244:Northern Circuit
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153:Lawyer and judge
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443:She became a
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819:English Jews
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692:. Retrieved
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668:, retrieved
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104:(2005-12-08)
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694:25 November
670:23 December
646:16 November
533:25 November
430:Roy Jenkins
413:her to the
793:Categories
761:10 October
739:10 October
581:required.)
498:References
410:High Court
379:Old Bailey
342:Hartlepool
332:, but the
218:Early life
208:Gray's Inn
204:Old Bailey
192:Gray's Inn
150:Occupation
85:1914-08-19
754:The Times
620:4 January
492:Islington
285:Southport
277:minefield
246:in 1940.
224:Liverpool
180:barrister
158:Known for
136:Education
120:Pneumonia
111:, England
109:Islington
94:, England
92:Liverpool
65:1974–1988
61:In office
367:mens rea
228:hotelier
200:recorder
689:Counsel
471:of the
467:of the
445:bencher
386:Burnley
330:gallows
778:
712:(2012)
575:
398:Assize
281:Crosby
250:Career
126:Spouse
486:Death
326:'
776:ISBN
763:2021
741:2021
696:2018
672:2022
648:2021
622:2021
535:2018
473:WRAC
377:The
283:and
99:Died
79:Born
567:doi
423:DBE
354:on
176:DBE
29:DBE
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