Marie Beuzeville Byles was an early law graduate of the University of Sydney, graduating Bachelor of Laws in 1924. She thereupon became the first woman to be admitted as a solicitor in New South Wales and was also the first woman to establish a legal practice in New South Wales (1929). She was an early conservationist, especially after her voyage around the world. In February 1928 she left on a Norwegian cargo ship travelling via Aden and Dunkirk (before which the ship ran aground!) to England. After a lengthy stay in England and Scotland including walks and climbs, she again set sail this time for Norway, returning to Australia via Canada, California and then by boat to Sydney via Brisbane. During her travels she records climbs of mountains in Britain, Norway and Canada while the latter part of her diary records her growing interest in the use of the compass and her struggles with the calculation of longtitude and latitude on board ship! This diary forms the backdrop for her subsequently published account: By cargo boat and mountain (London : Seeley, Service, 1931). After extensive travels in Asia and India, Byles became a Buddhist and published several books on these travels and on Buddhism. Byles is known as a female pioneer in the legal profession, mountaineer, explorer, feminist, author and conservationist.
