Jessie Chrystal Macmillan

Suffragist, founder of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, first female science alumna.

Background

Chrystal Macmillan was educated at St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh, where she was the first female science graduate in 1896.

She went on to become a lawyer, and in 1908 made history again when she became the first woman to plead before the House of Lords, presenting her case that female university graduates should be given the right to vote.

She was a prominent voice in the women's rights movement throughout her life, campaigning on a range of issues, and was secretary of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance between 1913 and 1920.

She was one of the leaders who organised the International Congress of Women in the Hague (28 April to 1 May 1915) and was a member of the delegation from that Congress to present proposals to heads of neutral states for halting World War I.

Following the Armistice she was a delegate at the Paris Peace Conference, which was held in 1919.

The plaque

Macmillan's plaque is located at King's Buildings (West Mains Road).