Clara Brett Martin

Clara Brett Martin (25 January 1874 – 30 October 1923) was a Canadian lawyer. She opened the way for women to become lawyers in Canada by being the first female lawyer in the British Empire in 1897.

Life and career Clara was born in Toronto in 1874. She was the twelfth and youngest child of Abraham and Elizabeth Martin, Anglican-Irish farmers. The family placed great importance on education; her father had been a superintendent of education for the township and at least three of her siblings became teachers. All her siblings attended university.

In 1890, Martin was accepted to Trinity College in Toronto, only three years after it began to admit women.

In 1891, Martin submitted a petition to the Law Society of Upper Canada to permit her to become a student member, a prerequisite to articling as a clerk, attending lectures and sitting the exams required to receive a certificate of fitness to practice as a solicitor.

Her petition was rejected by the Law Society after contentious debate, with the Special Committee reviewing the petition interpreting the statute which incorporated the Law Society as permitting only men to be admitted to the practice of law. W.D. Balfour sponsored a bill that provided that the word "person" in the Law Society's statute should be interpreted to include females as well as males. Martin's cause was also supported by prominent women of the day including Doctor Emily Stowe and Lady Aberdeen. With the support of the Premier, Oliver Mowat, legislation was passed on April 13, 1892, and permitted the admission of women as solicitors. As Canada prepared to enter the 20th century, women were barred from participation in, let alone any influence on or control over, the legal system at its fullest—women could not be voters, legislators, coroners, magistrates, judges or jurors. They were visible in the courts as litigants, witnesses & accused persons.

In 1893, Martin articled with the Toronto firm of Mulock, Miller, Crowther, and Montgomery, but was treated so poorly by her articling peers and the firm's secretaries that she was forced to switch to prominent Toronto law firm Blake, Lash and Cassels, now known as Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP.

Martin was elected a school trustee on the Toronto Board of Education in 1901 and served on the body for a decade as the only woman on the school board.

Martin ran for Toronto City Council in Ward 2 but was defeated in the 1920 municipal election.

Death and legacy Martin died at age 49, of a heart attack and was buried in St James Cemetery. Contemporary obituaries mourned her loss as a trailblazer for professional women.

In popular culture

In the episode "On the Waterfront (Part 2)" of the crime drama Murdoch Mysteries, Martin, portrayed by Patricia Fagan, is introduced and helps the female characters in their endeavor to advance women's suffrage.