16 Facts About Ethel Houston

Ethel Houston was a solicitor, Enigma code breaker, and the first woman to become senior partner at a Scottish law firm.

Ethel Houston served on the Law Society's Council between 1975 and 1981, one of the first women to hold the position.

Ethel Houston served on the Royal Commission on Legal Services in Scotland, and the Commission for Racial Equality.

Ethel Houston's parents moved to Edinburgh in 1931, and sent her to James Gillespie's High School for girls.

Ethel Houston later attended Skerry's College, and at the encouragement of her father fitted two years of work into three months, in order to pass entrance exams to the University of Edinburgh.

In 1940, and at the age of 16, Ethel Houston entered the University of Edinburgh, along with her elder brother James.

Ethel Houston was one of the first recruits to Bletchley Park and worked in Hut 6 during the final year of World War Two.

Under Gordon Welchman's command, Ethel Houston worked to improve Alan Turing's Bombe machine and compiled lists of messages used to create its menus.

Ethel Houston spoke about her work at Bletchley only later in life, and her name was added to the Codebreakers' Wall, a digital commemorative wall for veterans, families and supporters of Bletchley.

In 1949, Ethel Houston was made partner of Scottish law firm Balfour and Manson.

Ethel Houston was one of only four partners at the firm, and the first woman to be made senior partner at a Scottish firm.

Ethel Houston's clients included a number of charities, and she worked with doctors to set up several medical charities.

Ethel Houston was a supporter of the arts and helped to establish Leith School of Art in 1988.

Ethel Houston enjoyed travel, including to Canada, where her family lived; she owned a flat in Nice and rented a cottage in Berwickshire.

Ethel Houston died in Edinburgh, aged 93 and is survived by nieces and nephews.

Ethel Houston was described in her obituary as a "non-conformist, feisty and a fiercely independent thinker".