Little Mother

     In the 1890s women's chess in England, as in most places, was considered nearly inconsequential.  To bring this arena to the forefront required dedication, energy and persistance.  It so happened that many of the women who had those requirements and were willing to apply them towards chess also had blood relatives or husbands who were also devoted to the game.  One of the most energetic, dedicated, persistant and effective promoters of women's chess in England during it's infancy, was Mrs. Rhoda A. Bowles.

     Rhoda Annie Knott of Dawlish, a small town in Devon, married Henry Lewis Bowles, a strong chess player from nearby Exeter. While Rhoda wasn't a chess-player at the time, when she came down with an illness that left her temorarily blinded, her husband taught her to play the game by touch. Rhoda Bowles soon became one of the stronger woman players in England. More importantly, she became one of biggest promoters of women's chess.
     In January of 1895 she, with a group of other ladies, formed the British Ladies' Chess Club of London.  In 1896, she started acting on her idea for women's international tournament. She found support, backers and competitors from all over for the Ladies' 1st International Tournament held in 1897.  Ada S. Ballin enlisted her to write the chess column for her new illustrated monthly, "Womanhood," that premiered in Dec., 1898.  This was a magazine of exceptional quality that catered to the more intelligent, informed and independent-minded women.  The chess column was, indeed, of high quality. It seems that the magazine ended around 1906. After that, Mrs. Bowles contributed some articles for "The Chess Amateur," which premiered in Oct. 1906.

     Concerning H. L. Bowles, the "BCM" in 1903 wrote:
     Mr. H. L. Bowles, whose chess career dates from the time when, being still quite a lad, he defeated his father in a game. This was in 1866. He was  an early member of the Swansea C C., and, at the time of leaving that town for Exeter, in 1878, he could claim to be second to none in that district.  The Exeter C.C. in those days met at the Literary Society's Rooms, in Bedford Circus. Mr. Bowles could hold his own against most of the habitues:  Messrs. Fox, Newman, Sheppard, Surridge, and other,  whilst with Mr. C. J. Lambert, of five games played the score was 2½ each. In 1881 he  removed into the Metropolitan district, and was an active member of the "Isleworth," "Great Western," and "Railway" Chess Clubs for some years.  Later, he joined the City of London C.C., and was there promoted to Class I.   Mr. Bowles' record in London is a fine one. Of the first 128 games  played in club matches and tournaments, he scored 100 wins, 14 draws, and 14 losses. When the Metropolitan C.C. was founded, he was one of the  original members, and is now its vice-president. He is also president of the South London Polytechnic Club.

     Rhoda was born in 1861 and died in 1931. The 1932 issue of the "BCM" had this to say: 
     The Metropolitan Chess Club has sustained a heavy loss by the death early in December of Mrs. Rhoda Bowles. She had been a vice- president and staunch supporter of the club for a generation. At one time she was secretary of the Ladies' Chess Club, and ran a successful and informative column in "Womanhood." A great organiser, she ran the Ladies' International Tournament of 1897, and together with her husband, the late HL Bowles, conducted a series of matches between the English and American Universities. It was, in fact, her husband who taught her chess, in the course of a long illness. In June last she was involved in a serious motor accident, and her death must be attributed to injuries then received.

      The "British Chess Magazine" gave an account of Mrs. Bowles in 1900

     This photograph from a 1905 issue of "Womanhood"  depicts H.L. and Rhoda Bowles together. the caption reads:
     Just a little souvenir of the chess fortnight at Southport. To those in the group, and many others who joined them, bright recollections will arise of enjoyable picnics, whist drives, bowls parties, &c, which were indulged in outside the official programme. I am indebted to Mr. Frank Streather, a chess amateur photographer, for this, one of many capital picture postcards he was kind enough to take.
     (Mrs. Waterhouse, pictured above, took part in the chess congress, but died that October)

     from the "BCM," 1902:

    On March 26th the Cambridge University Chess Club concluded its annual Metropolitan chess tour with the return match against a team of ladies, captained by Mrs. Rhoda Bowles, chess editor of Womahood. The first match was played at Cambridge in June last year during Commemoration week, and a very close match resulted. This time the venue was 18, Somerset Street, Portman Square,'the residence of Mrs. Ada S. Ballin, and among the numerous chess enthusiasts who witnessed the play were Misses Catlin (Cambridge), Mrs. Rose Johnson (Brighton), Mrs. Glenfield, Mrs Fulham Hughes, Misses Robertson, Mr. and Mrs. H. N. Pillsbury, Mr. and Mrs. Mocatta, Messrs. W. W. White, Grevatt, &c. The University team, which was comprised of past and present members, was very strong, including such experienced strong players as Messrs. Tattersall, Softlaw, Fothetingham, Lowenthal, and Major Rawlins; but the ladies made a very stubborn fight, Miss Read winning cleverly against Mr. Fotheringham, while Mrs. Sydney, Mrs. James, and Mrs. Holmes each played steadily and well against their opponents. Mrs. Herring also gave her formidable opponent considerable trouble before surrendering. At the call of time the unfinished games were adjudicated by Mr. Pillsbury, who then gave the assembled company several remarkable illustrations of his mental powers. The first illustration was the placing of a Knight upon any of the squares of the chessboard that the company might select, and then, without sight of the board, Mr. Pillsbury rapidly dictated move after move by which the Knight, without covering any one square twice, covered each one of the sixty-four squares in turn. In the next illustration a pack of cards was shuffled and about twenty dealt out, each card being called. Mr. Pillsbury not seeing the cards simply listened, and then rapidly and accurately called off all the remaining cards that had not been dealt. Then a list of thirty words and names, some of them most fantastic, were written down by the company, and after the list had been read over he answered correctly all enquiries as to what name appeared against particular numbers and vice versa, and then in conclusion gave the whole list backwards in proper order. These feats were all accomplished by memorising efforts alone, and bear striking testimony to the remarkable development of his mental powers, which have already become world-famous by his successful achievement of twenty games of chess played sans voir. It was a most successful arid pleasant social chess function, reminiscent of the.events which marked the early years of ladies, practical participation in chess matches. Full score :—
Cambridge - Ladies
Mr. FW Clarke,   Mrs. Bowles  1-0
Mr.  Tattersall,  Mrs. Herring  1-0
Mr. Sofilaw,   Mrs. Sydney   ½-½
Mr.  Fotheringham,  Miss. Read  0-1
Mr.  Lowenthal,  Mrs. James    ½-½
Mr.  Clarke,  Mrs. White   1-0
Mr.  Prichard,  Mrs. Joughin   1-0
Mr.  Stead,  Mrs. Tapsell  1-0
Mr.  Rawlins,  Miss Holmes   ½-½
Mr.  Smith,  Miss Renton   1-0
                             Total:  7½-2½

Below is the mast that appeared above almost all of Mrs. Rhoda A. Bowles' chess columns in "Womanhood"  magazine.