First female Manx advocate 'surprised there was so much fuss'

The first woman to become an advocate on the Isle of Man has said she was "surprised there was so much fuss".

Clare Faulds became the first woman to achieve the position in 1973.

Reflecting on being called to the Manx bar 50 years ago, she said despite her surprise over the reaction at the time, she had "quite enjoyed it".

However, she said the progression to more than half of the advocates in the profession today being women was "very healthy".

"I wouldn't like to see it go the opposite way round, I think there needs to be a balance," she said.

She said she had been "very privileged" during her "very varied career" to have held positions including acting high bailiff, deputy deemster, and coroner, as well as becoming the first female ecclesiastical law officer, the vicar general, for the Diocese of Sodor and Man.

"When I look back over the years, the first 30 years I spent doing quite a wide variety of things," she said.

Stepping away from Manx law in 2004, Ms Faulds became a resident judge in the Falkland Islands, a jurisdiction that included the British Antarctic Territory, South Georgia and Ascension Island.

That she said was a "huge jurisdiction with not a lot of people but several different law systems".

Ms Faulds said managing timetables for both court and commercial work on the island had been "very difficult to balance with a family".

However she said other women in the profession had told her it was a "huge encouragement to them" that she remained in practice after having children.

While she said she was "very lucky" to have a husband and family to support her while she pursued her career, it was nevertheless "blinking hard work".

However, she said that was not exclusive to women, as the profession itself was "not family friendly" so affected fathers in the same way as it did mothers.

While she was the only woman practising at the start of her career, Ms Faulds said she never felt as though she was being treated any differently to her male colleagues.

Although she could recall one advocate being "very anti" women entering the profession, she said she never experienced any actual "discrimination".

"I didn't want any different treatment and I hope I haven't really had any, because it's not about me, it's about the client," she said.

Women in various industries - such as in law, accountancy and medicine - had "proved that the Isle of Man is a good place for women to work", she added.

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