Margaret Anderson was one of the first hundred women to graduate in Law from the University of Glasgow. She was born in Ayr on the 5th May 1927. Her father, Robert Gibson Anderson, was a solicitor in the town. Margaret was an outstanding pupil at Ayr Academy and went up to university in 1945 having been placed second in the annual Bursary Competition. She had a breadth of interest, reflected in her curriculum in the Arts Faculty. Her classes included French, Greek and Zoology as well as Civil Law, in which she took 7th place (M.A. 1948). She was clear about her intention to combine Arts and Law as the basis of a legal career and she did so in style. In her first session in the Law Faculty, 1948-49, she took 2nd prize in Public International Law and first class distinction certificates in Jurisprudence and Scots Law. The following year in addition to 1st prize in Constitutional Law she gained the coveted Robert Macfarlane Bursary, John Muir Prize and Robert Ross Prize in Conveyancing. She graduated LL.B.in 1950. The following year she married Herbert Courtney. Marriage took her to Ireland, to Donegal and Belfast, where her husband was a minister.
Sources
University of Glasgow Registry and general Council Records
Scotlands People
