Alison Bell (politician)

Alison Mary Spencer Bell Fok, JP (Chinese: 鍾愛理遜; 28 January 1925 – 8 April 2021) was a Scottish-born Hong Kong doctor and politician. She was the first woman to be elected to the Urban Council of Hong Kong.

Alison Bell
Bell in circa 1960s
Member of the Urban Council
In office
1 April 1956  31 March 1963
Preceded byNew seat
Succeeded byElsie Elliott
In office
1 April 1965  31 March 1969
Preceded byNew seat
Succeeded byRaymond Kan
Personal details
Born(1925-01-28)28 January 1925
Glasgow, Scotland
Died8 April 2021(2021-04-08) (aged 96)
Canada
Political partyReform Club of Hong Kong
Spouse
Peter Hin-tak Fok
(m. 1949)
Alma materRothesay House School
University of Edinburgh
OccupationDoctor and politician

Early life

Bell was born in Glasgow, Scotland in January 1925. She was the daughter of John Bell, Senior Partner of James Spencer & Company of Glasgow. She was educated at Rothesay House School, Edinburgh, where she was head girl and captain of games.[1]

Professional career

Bell graduated from the University of Edinburgh with the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 1948. She then took up the post of Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital till she married Dr. Peter Hin-tak Fok in 1949. She moved to Hong Kong in 1949. She was an anaesthetist at Kowloon Hospital and after that in private practice until 1951 when she started her private practice.[2]

Political career

Bell was the vice-chairwoman of the Reform Club

Bell first ran for the Urban Council in the 1956 election as a candidate of Brook Bernacchi's Reform Club of Hong Kong, in which she received 4,122 votes, becoming the first woman to be elected to the council. She was re-elected and served on the council for eight years until she retired from the office in 1963, citing the pressure of work in her profession and household. She returned to politics in 1965 when she ran in the Urban Council election as a Reform candidate again. In 1969, Bell decided not to seek re-election in protest at the lack of executive power of the Urban Council.[3]

During her tenure, she was also member of the Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts, Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation, Medical Committee of the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong, Christ Church Council, vice chairman of the Reform Club. She was appointed unofficial Justice of the Peace in 1964.

Personal life and death

Peter Fok

Bell married Dr. Peter Hin-tak Fok in 1949, son of architect Fok Nai-hang, with whom she had five children. She was able to speak fluent Cantonese.[4] Her son Joseph Fok is a Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.

She died in Hong Kong on 8 April 2021, at the age of 96.[5]

References

  1. South China Morning Post, 8 February 1956, p4
  2. South China Morning Post, 8 February 1956, p4
  3. "鍾愛理遜不再競選以示抗議市局無權". The Kung Sheung Evening News. 1 February 1969. p. 1.
  4. "市政局議員競選人訪問之五鍾愛理遜談婦女參政". Wah Kiu Yat Po. 24 February 1956. p. 6.
  5. "Dr. Alison Bell Fok". Arbor Memorial. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
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