Catherine Mackinlay was born in 1904 and brought up in Barrhead, Renfrewshire. Her mother was Elizabeth Jack. Her father, John, was a lawyer. Catherine chose to follow his profession, newly opened to women in Scotland in 1920. She was not an outstanding student in the Faculty of Law though she gained fourth place in Forensic Medicine in the session 1923-24 and passed all her exams to graduate B.L. in 1926. She completed her apprenticeship and fulfilled all the conditions of professional entry. Catherine became a solicitor. As a lawyer’s daughter her chances of surmounting these barriers and enjoying a career in law were higher than the majority of her contemporaries. Marriage, however, though not a legal barrier to practise, was a cultural one. Catherine married John Boyd, later Sir John Boyd, on 1st September 1927. Her wedding brought together some interesting Glasgow graduates. Walter Elliott, who was a future Secretary of State for Scotland, was the best man. Catherine’s classmate Beatrice Mary Jones (B.L. 1926) was bridesmaid. The groom had been part of a circle of undergraduates, some of whom had taken a long time to come through university, not because of their inability to pass the hurdles but because of their brilliance and wide interests. John Boyd himself had a very distinguished student record in both Arts and Law. He was seventeen years older than Catherine and a partner in Russell& Duncan when they got married. He had served in the Great War. His career took him to the heights of the profession. He was Vice-President of the Law Society of Scotland, Dean of the Royal Faculty of Procurators, Professor of Mercantile Law and LL.D. of this university. The records of the General Council do not routinely include the occupation of the university’s women graduates after marriage and though there may be more to be discovered about Catherine’s career it is safe to say that a path equal to that of her husband in the same profession would not have been open to her. She died in Glasgow in 1971, aged 76.
Sources
UG Archives Registry and General Council
University Story
Scotland’s People
