Oxford campaign women commemorated with blue plaques

Annie Rogers (left) and Ivy Williams both campaigned for women's rights

England's first woman barrister and Oxford University's first woman don have been commemorated with blue plaques in the city.

One has been placed in King Edward Street on the former home of Ivy Williams, who qualified as England's first woman barrister in 1922.

The other has gone up in St Giles' where Annie Rogers, who gained first class honours at Oxford in 1875, lived.

There were no official ceremonies due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ms Rogers was influential in a campaign for women to earn full degrees at Oxford University

Annie Rogers, was born in 1856 and died in 1937, and lived at 35 St Giles' between 1891 and 1899.

After gaining first class honours at the University of Oxford she went on to become the secretary of Association for Promoting the Higher Education of Women, which was influential in a campaign for women to earn full degrees at Oxford.

The first women students were awarded full degrees in October 1920.

Ms Williams became the first woman to teach law at the university

Ivy Williams, who lived at 12 King Edward Street between 1887 and 1904, was among the first cohort of women to be awarded a full degree at Oxford that year.

Ms Williams, who was born in 1877 and died in 1966, was called to the English Bar in 1922 after campaigning for women to be allowed to become barristers.

She also became the first woman to teach law at the university.

In total, there are 66 blue plaques in Oxford, under the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Scheme, also honouring people including author CS Lewis and actor and comedian Ronnie Barker.