Dame Barbara Mills has died at the age of 70.
Born in 1940, she was of a generation that married & had her children young – like Margaret Thatcher she took her bar exams after she had become a mother. She went on to juggle family responsibilities with a successful career as a criminal lawyer & became the first woman Director of Public Prosecutions.
I remember an interview with Jenni Murray: Is it true that you once left your child in hospital & went off to do work at the Old Bailey? How could you?
Well, the child was not seriously ill – in expert hands – my presence while they were in theatre for routine surgery would have meant nothing to the child. Was I really supposed to tell the judge, jury, witnesses, opposing barristers & my own client – sorry, you’ll just have to come back tomorrow?
Observing the experience of the women of that generation contributed to the next big idea, that it is better to postpone childrearing until you have established yourself in your career; but then that is not exactly easy either.
My abiding visual memory of Barbara Mills will be those perfectly manicured nails, varnished a bright, bright red.
