Henry Holiday (British, 1839-1927)Portrait of Helena Normanton, Q.C. (1882-1957)
signed with initials 'h.h.' (lower left)
pencil
39 x 28.5cm (15 3/8 x 11 1/4in).注脚Helena Normanton was a suffragette and campaigner for women's rights. In 1914 she published a pamphlet, Sex Differentiation in Salary, lobbying for equal pay. She had wanted to be a lawyer since she was 12 years old and in 1918 applied to Middle Temple only to be rejected. She made legal history, when on 24 December 1919 she joined Middle Temple, making her the first woman to make use of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 passed the previous day.

In a series of firsts she was the first female barrister to practice in England and the second to be called to the bar. She was the first married woman to be issued with a passport in her maiden name, the first woman to obtain a divorce for a client and to lead the prosecution in a murder trial. She was the first female counsel in cases in the High Court (1922), the Old Bailey (1924) and London sessions (1926) and in 1925 the first woman to conduct a case in the United States relating to a married woman's right to retain her maiden name. In 1949 with Rose Heilbron she became the first female King's Counsel in England and Wales.

In recognition of Normanton's extraordinary achievements 218 Strand Chambers were renamed Normanton Chambers in 2019, 100 years after she was first admitted to Middle Temple, and the first instance of barristers' chambers being named after a woman.