Lane, Elizabeth (1905–1988)

English lawyer. In 1960 she became the third woman to be appointed QC (Queen's Counsel), and in 1962 she was the first woman circuit court judge. She was made a master of the bench in 1965, and in the same year became the first woman to be appointed a High Court judge, working in the Family Division. In 1971–73 she chaired the committee on the working of the Abortion Act. She was created DBE in 1965.

Her early offices included assistant recorder of Birmingham 1953–61, and recorder of Derby and commissioner of the Crown Court at Manchester 1961–62. She retired from the High Court in 1979.

Lane was educated privately and at Malvern Girls College. She married a barrister, Henry Lane (died1975) in 1926. The death of her only child led her to study for the Bar and become a barrister in 1940.