Agnes Gray, one of the first hundred women to graduate in Law from the University of Glasgow, was an outstanding student in Arts and Science as well as Law. She was born in Coatbridge on 3rd October 1908 to Janet and Robert Gray, a solicitor. Agnes began her studies in the Arts Faculty in 1924, but combined Arts and Science subjects, enabling her to graduate B.Sc. and M.A. with First Class Honours in Maths and Nat.Phil.in 1928. She was awarded the Herkless Prize as the most distinguished woman graduate in the Faculty of Arts. Her brilliance was equally evident when she became a Law student from 1928 to 1931 and her name was frequently found on the prize-list, including 2nd place in Civil Law, 3rd in Scots Law and Conveyancing, 4th in Public International, as well as several distinction certificates. She graduated LL.B. with Distinction in 1931. Sadly her father died before she completed her education. The evidence suggests that she intended a legal career, perhaps an academic one. She would have served an apprenticeship in tandem with her law degree but had not petitioned the Court of Session for admission as a solicitor in the immediate years after graduating. In 1934 she was a contender for the highly prestigious three- year postgraduate Faulds Fellowship in Law and was the only woman to be included in the short-leet of six. The successful candidate, Jack Halliday, became Professor of Conveyancing. Her career took a different direction, however. Agnes Gray was appointed M.B.E. in the New Year’s Honours list of 1950 for her services as a statistician to the South West Scotland division of the British Electricity Authority. She died in Glasgow in 1988, aged 79.
Sources
University of Glasgow Registry & General Council Records
Minutes of the Faculty of Law 1934
Scotlands People
Supplement to the London Gazette 2nd January 1950
