Today we celebrate the life of Rosemary Piacentini [1938-2025]. In 2019 she spoke with Maria Fletcher about her time studying at the School of Law, a time that began in 1957 but did not end until 1981 with the award of her Diploma in Legal Practice.  What lay behind those years of punctuated study was marriage - to her beloved and endlessly supportive husband Andrea – and then a steady, actually prolific, succession of children! As well as bearing and caring for children during those years, Rosemary and her husband Andrea also travelled to Kampala, Uganda from 1964-66.  While Andrea worked in a Missionary School, Rosemary looked after their then three children and once back in Scotland she decided to return to study law with Andrea’s steady support and encouragement.  She was also encouraged to return by the older sister of a friend from school, Rosaleen Morrison, later Sheriff, who had returned to University as a mature student. 

In her interview with Maria, Rosemary mentions the changes she observed in the law school, most notably in the dress code and number of women students. When she had started in 1957 law was still taught in the early mornings and late afternoons to those who were, predominantly, already working within law firms. This meant that most were men, many of whom were dressed in bowler hats! By the time she returned in 1978 law was no longer a graduate degree, the BL had been phased out and replaced with an LLB, and students dressed more informally. Still ,though, Rosemary was in a minority, not just as a woman but as a mature student.  

Despite this, she recalled that she had enjoyed her studies, however difficult it was to juggle reading, exam preparation and childcare. Her husband’s support was crucial. He juggled working as a teacher with turns in the family fish and chip shop and taking on the domestic and childcare duties while Rosemary studied on weekends in the Reading Room at University Avenue.  

She recalled also, the support from some memorable Faculty staff, including Olivia Robinson who was one of the School’s first woman Professors (in Jurisprudence). And, touchingly, from Mrs White who taught Accountancy on the Diploma. Rosemary was scheduled to have to resit this exam in September 1981. But that summer, her husband died tragically from a heart attack at just 41.  Mrs White tried to find a way for Rosemary to avoid having to resit the exam as it was at that point a bit of a formality, the Diploma having only just been introduced and everyone finding their feet a little.  In the event, Rosemary was told simply to present herself at the exam. Ever generous, Rosemary recalled years later that this had been a decent thing for the University to have done. 

In an interview broadcast by the BBC on the day of Rosemary’s graduation she shared her hopes of gaining an apprenticeship and perhaps entering the Fiscal’s Office. She did indeed end up securing a training contract but, like many other women, this was not straightforward.  In response to her applications, she received rejection after rejection.  As a mature graduate and now single parent of ten children, she faced an uphill battle.   

Here, again, she found strength and support in her community, something that many of the women in our 100 Voices for 100 Years exhibition have recalled.  For Rosemary this came through (Sheriff) Brian Kearney and his marriage to a school friend.  He put in a good word for her with a firm that had just rejected her application and before long she had successfully qualified as a solicitor with Ross Harper and Murphy. Her story shows just how hard it was to secure the practical training needed to become a lawyer.  Breaking down those barriers, sadly, remains a struggle that continues to this day but Rosemary also demonstrated that it could be done, no doubt dispelling prejudices along the way about the capacity for mothers to work and to care for their families.  

After her time at Ross Harper and Murphy she went on to work as a Reporter for The Children’s Panel, a role that she and her family said she loved, and that she was really good at! Her role meant supporting and making decisions about a young person facing challenges and risk of harm. Who could have been better qualified for the role than her? She had such a natural understanding of children, and she brought humanity, wisdom, and most importantly a fierce sense of fairness and justice to everything she did. She continued in that role until her retirement. 

Seonaid Stevenson-McCabe, co-lead of the Women in Law Project, knew Rosemary as a beloved Nonna and Mum through family friends long before she knew of her incredible achievements as a woman in law.  To raise ten children is remarkable, to do so while studying for a law degree is almost unthinkable! But, as with many of the early women in the legal profession, doing the unthinkable seems to have been what was required and she rose to that challenge.   

We hope you enjoy listening to Rosemary’s experiences as a student in her own words.  As women in law we are very grateful for her determination and strength. We send our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones.   

 

First published: 7 March 2025

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