WOMEN IN THE LORDS
Before 1958, there were no women members of the Lords 
at all. However, the law allowing the creation of life peers 
made no distinction between the sexes - and women were 
therefore allowed to take a seat for the first time. Once 
women life peers had been admitted, it seemed odd to 
keep out the few women peers who were entitled to 
hereditary titles (most peerages descend through the male 
line), so the law was amended in 1963 to allow hereditary 
women peers to take seats.