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= Agnes Twiston Hughes =

Agnes Twiston Hughes, (1896), was qualified as the first female solicitor by the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1923. Her and nine other woman were qualified however it was only her to come top of the class, beating all male contemporaries, and winning both the John Mackrell and Clabon prizes. Hughes formed an exclusive club with the group of women names the 1919 Club, and in return the Law Society provided them with a room where they could meet on an occasional basis. 1923 is usually taken as the year the 1919 Club was founded as there is no exact date to when the group were originally created.

The Club initially opened as a social group, however women took this time to discuss the problems and difficulties a female solicitor has to face. They also spoke about how to overcome these problems, such as what they should wear in court in order to be taken seriously by other clients and lawyers.

Early Life
Agnes Hughes came from a feircly determined family. Although her grandfather was a joiner and builder, her father was a solicitor by the time he was 41. After training as a solicitors clerk in England, only at age 19, he decided to move back to his native Wales and set up his own practice in Conwy, North Wales. His daughter, Agnes, was trained by him as she joined him at his practice in Conwy and she remained there until she had reached the age 65 ,(1961), where she retired after working for 38 years.

Agnes and her sisters were sent to the Welsh Girls School named St.Davids in Ashford, Middlesex and then to Bangor County School. During that time, Hughes became exceptionally intelligent and was known to not accept failure. She not only obtained a BSc from London University but also won 3 major prizes and came first out of all candidates, including males, in the Law Society Finals class of 1923.

Hughes has spent all her professional life at her fathers firm J W Hughes & Co, first a his articles clerk then senior partner. Her career was almost identical to a male solicitors, however she was not treated equally or fairy because of her gender.

1919 Club
The 1919 club was an informal club set up the the first few female solicitors, including Agnes Hughes. The group itself had little to no real purpose although it has as few as 100 members.

Even though the club was actually quite close to dissolution, the plan being to spend its last funds on a last celebration, the women believed firmly that there was a necessity to the group to further other women like them into the same profession. After attending the EGM, the decision was made that the 1919 CLub was to be reborn as the Association for Women's Solicitors.