Barbara Calvert
Barbara Adamson Calvert, QC (née Parker; 30 April 1926 – 22 July 2015), known as The Lady Lowry after her second marriage, was a British barrister specialising in family law. She was the first woman to be a head of chambers when she founded 4 Brick Court in 1974. Early life Calvert was born on 30 April 1926 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. Her father was Albert Parker CBE, a chemist. She was educated at St. Helen's School, a private all-girls school in Northwood, London. She went on to study economics at the London School of Economics. Legal career After her first marriage in 1948, Calvert was a housewife. At a New Year's Eve party in the late 1950s, she was encouraged by a friend of her husband to look at a career in law. On 24 November 1959, she was called to the bar at Middle Temple; at that time, only 3% of barristers were women. She joined the chambers run by John Platts-Mills as a barrister. In 1974, she set up her own chambers at 4 Brick Court. In doing so, she became the first female Head of Chambers. It had four women as founding members and the chambers