Roma Stewart was born on 24 September 1902, the daughter of James David Stewart and Barbara Westaway. James David Stewart was a practicing attorney in Montague and Georgetown, Prince Edward Island, sometime leader of the Conservative party, and Premier of the Province. Upon graduating from Prince of Wales College, Roma articled for two years in her father's law firm and wrote two sets of exams. After a term taken at Dalhousie in 1923 where she led her class but first prize was nevertheless awarded to a male student who came second, she returned to her father's firm to continue her apprenticeship. In January of 1926 she was called to the bar of Prince Edward Island, the first woman ever to be admitted. After working in her father's firm for a year she left the Island to take a job with the Prudential Trust Company. She married George Goodwin and became involved in the women's rights movement in Quebec. Following the death of her husband she married a second time, William Blackburn, professor and dean at Duke University. Roma Stewart Blackburn died on 27 February 1985.