WITH donations and money raised through a silent auction held at a well-attended gala dinner, the Otago Women Lawyers Society (OWLS) expects to be able to offer its first scholarship through the Marion Thomson Charitable Trust by the end of the year.
OWLS Convener Debbie Ericsson said the evening was a great success in terms of raising funds and a fitting launch for the trust.
“We are very grateful to all of those who attended and purchased items in the auction as well as those who could not attend but sent us donations, some of which were significant.
“We are definitely in a position where we will be able to offer the first scholarship later this year. Details of how and when to apply will be publicised in the OWLS newsletter in the near future,” she said.
Donations are still welcome and can be forwarded to OWLS, PO Box 5632, Dunedin.
OWLS has established the trust to commemorate one of its most steadfast supporters, pioneering Otago woman lawyer Marion Thomson, who died last year aged 95.
The trust’s purpose is to provide financial support to enable women lawyers in Otago to study or to hold or attend conferences and seminars in the area of family law. It will also support women lawyers practising family law, recognising that many of their clients are legally aided or have insubstantial means to access justice.
Although she had to leave school early, Marion Thomson studied at night school to matriculate and begin a law degree in 1932. She won various prizes but on graduation turned down the offer of a law firm position as she had just got engaged and could not guarantee to complete the required two years’ service. She returned to work when her youngest child started school but as a legal typist and was eventually admitted in 1961 after being offered a position in another firm as a solicitor. She worked in the firm that is now McKinnon Aitken Martin, specialising in family law and conveyancing.
Debbie Ericsson says Otago women lawyers always drew inspiration from Marion and wanted to commemorate her in a way that continued to support women in the profession.
Marion’s three children were able to attend the dinner held at the end of June and messages of support and donations came from around the country from others unable to be there. The silent auction of various donated items and services included some of Marion’s personal memorabilia.
Speakers at the dinner were Marion’s daughter, Elinor Barker (who, along with Debbie Ericsson, is a trustee of the trust), former Dunedin family law practitioner and now District Court Judge Rosemary Riddell and Professor Mark Henaghan, Dean of Law at Otago University.
Elinor Barker said that as a child the fact that Marion was a lawyer was secondary – “she was just my Mum” but she sees the trust as a fitting memorial to her mother’s pioneering work in the law even though Marion herself always said she could not understand why people made a fuss of her.
Rosemary Riddell said Marion always considered she had the support of her male peers and, in turn, encouraged those women who came after her. Judge Riddell said such support and encouragement was tremendously important and she called on current women lawyers to find someone to mentor and similarly encourage young women coming out of law school. The support that the trust would provide was also tremendously important, she said.
Mark Henaghan described Marion as one of his four great heroes in life and said he always found her utterly refreshing. “She did not see times as tough and was not negative about any of her experiences,” he said.