Ann Ebsworth

Dame Ann Marian Ebsworth, DBE (19 May 1937 – 4 April 2002) was an English barrister and judge. In 1992, she became the sixth female High Court judge, and the first to be assigned to the Queen's Bench Division.

Biography Ebsworth's mother was Hilda Mary, (born Sullivan) and her father, Arthur Ebsworth, was an officer in the Royal Marines. They were living in Southsea when she was born in the Royal Naval and Royal Marine Maternity Home, but early life was spent in various barracks. She was educated at Notre Dame Convent, Worth, West Sussex, and at Portsmouth High School. She read history at Royal Holloway College, University of London, where she was a formidable debater, captaining teams in intercollegiate contests.

She was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1962, becoming the sixth female High Court judge after Elizabeth Lane, Rose Heilbron, Margaret Booth, Elizabeth Butler-Sloss and Joyanne Bracewell. All previous female High Court judges were appointed to the Family Division.

In 1992 Ebsworth was the first woman to be assigned to the Queen's Bench Division.

Her funeral service was held at Gray's Inn on 10 April 2002.

Legacy She left £1 million to the Institute of Child Health to fund research under the auspices of the Ann Ebsworth Centre for Childhood Epilepsy, at Great Ormond Street Hospital. The Dame Ann Ebsworth Memorial Lectures are held annually at the Inner Temple in her memory.