{{Short description|British political agent}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Bertha Bowness Fischer | image = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = 21 February 1875 | birth_place = [[Karaikal]], [[French India]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|1920|12|6|1875|2|21|df=y}} | death_place = | death_cause = | other_names = | known_for = First UK woman political agent | education = | employer = | occupation = | party = | boards = | spouse = | children = | parents = | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Bertha Bowness Fischer''' born '''Bertha Bowness Foulkes''' (21 February 1875 – 6 December 1920) was a [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] political agent.
==Life== Fischer was born in [[Karaikal]] in 1875. Her family came originally from Germany but the she was a fourth generation person born in India. She was born in a part of India that was part of French India where her father, Thomas James Henry Bowness Fischer, was a British consular agent. Her mother was Henrietta Amelia who was born Stevenson. She was her parents second daughter born in Kariakal. Her father had briefly worked for the [[British East India Company]]<ref name=dnbb>{{Cite web |title=Fischer [married name Foulkes], Bertha Bowness (1875–1920), poor-law guardian and professional political agent |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-112277 |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |date=2019 |language=en |doi=10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.112277|isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 |last1=Rix |first1=Kathryn }}</ref> but all of their interests were transferred to Britain after the 1857 disruptions.
In 1902 she was accepted by Society of Certified and Associated Liberal Agents as a political agent. She was the first woman of any party to qualified in this way.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pack |first=Mark |date=2017-07-30 |title=Forgotten Liberal heroes: Bertha Bowness Fischer |url=https://www.markpack.org.uk/150974/bertha-bowness-fischer-liberal-election-agent/ |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=Mark Pack |language=en-GB}}</ref> This job carries a similar status to being a solicitor and the first woman solicitor was not until after 1919.<ref name=dnbb/>
In 1905 she became the second women constituency political agent when she was given that job in [[Fareham (UK Parliament constituency)|Fareham]]. She was supporting the Liberal candidate, [[George Evatt]], in what was a Conservative seat. She left to marry [[Eton College|Eton-educated]] surgeon Captain (Thomas) Howard Foulkes [[Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons|FRCS]] in Portsea in July 1905 leaving her job as political agent and a [[Poor Law Guardian|poor law guardian]].<ref name=dnbb/>
==Death and legacy== Fischer was murdered in 1920.<ref name=dnbb/> She and her husband were attacked by [[Pashtuns|Pathan]] tribesmen in their bungalow on 15 November and her husband, who was now a Lieutenant Colonel, was killed. She survived the attack but died of her wounds on 6 December 1920. A plaque was created by their friends in India and it is now in the [[National Army Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Commemorative plaque, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Howard Foulkes and his wife, Bertha Bowness, 1920 {{!}} Online Collection {{!}} National Army Museum, London |url=https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1998-10-114--1 |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=collection.nam.ac.uk}}</ref> The Liberal Democrats give an award in her name.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pack |first=Mark |date=2022-01-20 |title=Liberal Democrat Party Awards: get your nominations in |url=https://www.markpack.org.uk/141892/liberal-democrat-party-awards/ |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=Mark Pack |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Congratulations to our Party Award Winners |url=https://www.libdems.org.uk/party-awards-s21 |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=Liberal Democrats |language=en}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Bertha Bowness}} [[Category:1875 births]] [[Category:1920 deaths]] [[Category:People from Karaikal]] [[Category:Female murder victims]] [[Category:British expatriates in France]] [[Category:People from French India]] [[Category:British people in British India]]