Percy Ulrich Fischer (22 March 1878 – 10 June 1957) was a South African judge president of the Orange Free State Provincial Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa. He was the son of politician

Abraham Fischer Abraham Fischer (9 April 1850 – 16 November 1913) was a South African statesman. He was the sole Prime Minister of the Orange River Colony in South Africa, and when that ceased to exist joined the cabinet of the newly formed Union of South Afr ...

and the father of the lawyer

Bram Fischer Abraham Louis Fischer (23 April 19088 May 1975) was a South African Communist lawyer of Afrikaner descent with partial Anglo-African ancestry from his paternal grandmother, notable for anti-apartheid activism and for the legal defence of anti- ...

Early life and education

Fischer was the son of Abraham Fischer and his wife, Ada Robertson. He received his schooling at Grey College in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

and in 1895 continued his studies at the

South African College The South African College was an educational institution in Cape Town, South Africa, which developed into the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the South African College Schools (SACS). History The process that would lead to the formation of th ...

, where he obtained his BA degree. He then went to the United Kingdom and studied law at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

and was admitted to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1900.

Career

He then returned to Bloemfontein and in 1904 he began practicing as an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

. In 1924 he became

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

and on 9 September 1929 he was appointed a judge in the Orange Free State Division of the Supreme Court. Fischer served as

puisne judge Puisne judge and puisne justice () are terms for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. The term comes from a combination of the two French words, (since, later) and (born) which have been combined as or ; meaning ...

for ten years, after which he was appointed judge president of the Orange Free State Division in 1939.

Personal life

Fischer married Ella Fichardt in 1907 and there were four sons and a daughter born out of their marriage. His eldest son, Bram Fischer, became an advocate in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, was a for anti-apartheid activist and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

References

1878 births 1957 deaths South African judges Orange Free State judges South African Queen's Counsel {{SouthAfrica-law-bio-stub