In the footsteps of Ethel Benjamin
Subtitle: New Zealand's first woman lawyer
By: Janet November.
Contributors: New Zealand Law Foundation.
Publisher: Victoria University Press for the Law Foundation of New Zealand
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Wellington [N.Z.]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 260
ISBN-13: 9780864736079
Subjects: Benjamin, Ethel, -- 1875-1943; Lawyers -- New Zealand -- Biography; Women lawyers -- New Zealand -- Biography
Genres: Biography
Description: "The book solves some of the mysteries of Ethel’s life and work: how many brothers and sisters did she have? Where did the family live? Why did she, as a 'first wave' feminist, act for hoteliers when many of the women's movement supported the prohibitionists? It shows some of the obstacles Ethel encountered to becoming a lawyer in the late nineteenth century all-male conservative legal profession. The book portrays Ethel's determination, hard work, mental ability and 'can do' attitude. The epilogue compares Ethel's story with that of some of her less well-known but notable successors in the mid twentieth century, and some of her famous successors. This is a book about how New Zealand women overcame obstacles to practice in the legal profession, once the sole preserve of men, some soaring through the 'glass ceiling' to high positions in public life."--Book jacket.
Notes: Col. map on back cover.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-252) and index.
Table of contents: title: 1.; title: Ethel's birthplace: Nineteenth-century Dunedin -- -- 2.; title: School days: The Girls' High School -- -- 3. University -- 4.; title: Starting in Practice -- -- 5.; title: Solicitor for the Society for the Protection of Women and Children -- -- 6.; title: The Political Environment -- -- 7.; title: Prohibition versus the Publicans -- -- 8.; title: The Hotel Businesses: clients, partners and friends -- -- 9.; title: General Practice: Contracts and Conveyancing -- -- 10.; title: Cherry Tearooms and what happened next -- -- 11.; title: Wellington -- -- 12.; title: England and the Family -- -- Epilogue.; title: Ethel's Legal Legacy: Successors in the Footsteps of Ethel Benjamin.