18/04/2026
To help us mark this March, we were delighted to welcome gender historian and activist Dr Lesley Orr to Castle House- alongside the Women In Law Project team from University of Glasgow. 🎓
Dr Orr shared her fascinating historical research into the life of Helen Crawfurd Anderson- suffrage campaigner, rent striker, peace crusader, and Dunoon’s first ever female Councillor. It is always a joy to remember and learn even more about Helen, a remarkable local activist with a strong passion for justice that she displayed throughout her life.
This was excellently accompanied by the interesting presentation of Seonaid, Maria, and Charlie which highlighted the lives of several Dunoon women and their connections to women’s entry into the legal profession in Scotland. This included Margaret Howie Strang Hall, who lived in Kirn and was the first woman in Scotland to apply to become a lawyer, as well as Josephine Marguerite Bennett, the well-known local lawyer, archaeologist, and historian whose childhood bear we have in our collection. 🐻
We are incredibly grateful to these wonderful researchers who gave their time to come along and share their knowledge with us- as well as everyone who attended on the day. ☺️
