Mary Fullarton Fyfe was a mature married woman when she matriculated in the Faculty of Law in 1925. She was born Mary Armour in 1883, the daughter of Annie (nee Fullarton) and James Shearer Armour. She had taken an Arts degree (M.A. Glasgow,1907) and married David Fyfe, a physician and surgeon (1910) before taking the decision to return to university to study Law. She was then 42. Unsurprisingly, for lack of relevance, she left that part of her matriculation form that asked for her father’s occupation blank. He was not a lawyer, however, but a timber measurer. Mary Fyfe was an excellent student and her name appeared frequently on the prize-list. She gained an Honours mention in Scots Law, a first class certificate in Civil Law and Forensic Medicine, 3rd Place in both Jurisprudence and Constitutional Law, 9th place in Evidence and Procedure. She graduated B.L. in 1928 and LL.B.in 1929. Although she was academically well qualified to consider a career in law, possibly marriage and age combined to keep her from entry to the profession. She certainly continued to have an active civic life. In 1953 she was appointed M.B.E. for political and public services in Glasgow, having served as a J.P.in the city. She died on the 1st November 1960.
Sources
GU Archives Registry and General Council
London Gazette January 1953
Scotland’s People
