Background
Orme was born in London, into a well-connected middle-class family.
Orme was born in London, into a well-connected middle-class family.
She was educated at Bedford College for Women, and attended lectures at University College London from 1871.
Before the passing of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Acting 1919, women were not permitted to qualify as a barrister or a solicitor in England. Indeed, women were permitted to study but not to graduate at many universities. Orme worked in the chambers of a barrister, John Savill Vaizey, from 1873, but her aspiration to be recognised as a "conveyancer under the bar" was blocked.
From the mid-1880s, she worked with Reina Emily Lawrence, continuing to work on legal matters until about 1904.
Orme was also active in Liberal Party politics and as a feminnist. She was involved with the National Society for Women"s Suffrage and the Society for the Promotion of the Employment of Women, and assisted the Royal Commission on labour in 1892.
She was also involved with the Women"s Liberal Federation from 1887, leaving to join its rival Women"s National Liberal Federation in 1892. She died in Streatham.
In 1902, she wrote the entry for the Dictionary of National Biography for Samuel Plimsoll.