Clara Brett Martin Canada’s first female lawyer

On my walk through St. James-the-Less Cemetery in Toronto, I came upon the weathered, eroding grave of a true Canadian pioneer—Clara Brett Martin, the first female lawyer in Canada and the British Empire.

Born in Toronto in 1874, Clara was the twelfth and youngest child of Irish immigrants. From a young age, she demonstrated brilliance and determination that would challenge the rigid social norms of her time.

In 1888, just three years after Trinity College (University of Toronto) began admitting women, Clara was accepted as a student. A gifted scholar, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics at the age of sixteen—a rare feat then, and still impressive today.

Clara, graduated from Trinity College, University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto. 

But it was her fight to enter the legal profession that truly defined her legacy. After multiple petitions and persistent resistance from a system not ready to welcome women, Clara was finally accepted into Osgoode Hall Law School, where she graduated in 1897. Just two years later, she was granted an LL.B., officially becoming the first woman in Canada—and in the entire British Empire—to be admitted to the legal profession.

Clara never married, devoting her life instead to her career and to opening doors for those who would follow. Her story is one of extraordinary courage, intellect, and tenacity in the face of deeply entrenched barriers.

Now, more than a century later, her monument – is a stone slowly surrendering to time. But her impact remains etched in history, and in the lives of countless women in law who followed her lead.

Clara Brett Martin died in Toronto on October 30,1923. She was 49.

1874-1923