Nina Lowry

Noreen Margaret Lowry (Collins, 6 September 1925 – 30 March 2017) was a British barrister and judge at the Old Bailey, where she was the first permanent female judge.

Early life
Noreen Margaret Collins was born on 6 September 1925 at 82 Adelaide Road in Hampstead, London. Noreen was the eldest daughter of John Edmund Collins (1895–1971), a paint salesman, and Hilda Grace (Gregory) (1901–1984).

Collins was educated at Bedford High School, a private school for girls aged 7 to 18 in Bedford, England. Collins was awarded a place at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, but wartime regulations prevented her from taking up the offer. Collins instead read law at the University of Birmingham.

Personal life
Collins married Edward Lucas Gardner (1912–2001), a barrister and recorder, in 1950. They had a son and also a daughter, the writer Sally Gardner. Noreen's marriage to Gardner was dissolved in 1962. Noreen married Richard John Lowry (1924–2001), a barrister, on 24 April 1963.