The Selden’s Sister Inaugural Annual Lecture

The Rt Hon Baroness Hale of Richmond will trace the evolution of mothers’ rights from the reforming Custody of Infants Act 1839 (Talfourd’s Act). That Act merely allowed mothers to petition the court for custody of their children under seven and granted them the opportunity to petition for access to their older children. She will consider the wider and more child focused legislation of the late 19th Century and the growing recognition of mothers’ rights from then to the major reforming Acts of the 20th Century, the Guardianship of Infants Act 1925 and the Guardianship Act 1972, and ask what equal parental ‘rights and authority’ mean today.

About The Rt Hon Baroness Hale of Richmond

Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, was the President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom until 2020. In 2004 she became the first woman Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in the House of Lords. Baroness Hale became the first woman Justice of the Supreme Court in 2009. She was appointed Deputy President of the Supreme Court in 2013, and then President in 2017. Prior to this, she had a varied career as an academic lawyer, law reformer, and judge.

Over the course of her career Baroness Hale has made a leading contribution to family law and reform. This invaluable contribution has often focussed on the inequalities to be found within the law and outcomes before the courts for women. She has done much to ensure that the law and the courts focus on the welfare and voices of women and children.