Janet Simpson Stobo MacLean was one of the first 100 women to graduate in law from the University of Glasgow. Her father, Hugh, was a distinguished Glasgow doctor, a Captain in the R.A.M.C., who died of flu just days before the Armistice in November 1918, aged 39. Her mother was Jessie Stobo Simpson. Janet was born in Glasgow on 23rd September 1907 and lived at the family home in Annfield Place, Dennistoun. Later the family moved to Bridge of Allan and Janet lodged at Lilybank Gardens as a student. She had an excellent academic record. She won the Robert Ross Prize in Scots Law, gained a mention as ‘eminently distinguished’ in Conveyancing, third place in Forensic Medicine and a Merit certificate in Evidence and Procedure. Janet graduated B.L. with Distinction in 1931. With an apprenticeship and academic success behind her she could have reasonable expectation of a career in the Law. In 1935 she married David Scott Webster with whom she had one child. General Council Records list the family’s address in the post-war years as Gourock. She did not proceed to full professional registration as a solicitor, though she may have worked in essentially the same role. Janet MacLean died, aged 80, on 11th April 1988 in Glasgow and is buried in the family plot at the Necropolis.
Sources
University of Glasgow Registry & General Council Records
Scotlands People
