Margaret Paterson Archer was one of the first hundred women to graduate in Law from the University of Glasgow. Born in Glasgow on 8th of August 1916 at 16 Grafton Square she was the daughter of Grace Mackay and Paul Archer, a commercial traveller, later a tobacconist. By the time Margaret was a student the family home was at 38 St.Vincent Crescent. She had a lot in common with Madge Anderson a generation earlier. Like her she was a pupil of Hutcheson’s Grammar, took an Arts degree prior to an LL.B., became Convenor (in 1940) of the Free Legal Dispensary in a scheme begun by the women of the Queen Margaret College Settlement and of which Madge was the first Convenor (in 1920), joined the Soroptimists and rose to become a partner in a city law firm, at a time when few women in Scotland got that far. After graduating M.A. in 1937 Margaret seemed to move effortlessly through the curriculum in the Law Faculty, faltering only once in Conveyancing, as many did. She would also have served an apprenticeship but before settling into a career in law there was a war to win. She served in India, attaining the rank of Captain. Returning to office life after the war she was admitted to practice as a solicitor in 1947. This energetic, much valued member of the firm became a partner in Moncrieff, Warren, Paterson & Co. in 1958. She retired in 1985, the year in which the firm merged with McGrigor’s though it was by no means the end of an active life. An obituary in the Journal of the Law Society after her death, aged 95 on 23rd July 2012 speaks of her continued business interests, love of travel, yoga and recycling.
Sources
University of Glasgow Registry and General Council Records
Scotlands People
Law Lists
CoSS Petitions list CS 46 1947/8/41
‘Margaret Paterson Archer: An Appreciation’ Law Society of Scotland https://lawscot.org.uk>issues
