Born an Englishwoman in 1831, Isabella
Lucy Bird grew up in Tattenhall, a village about eight miles southeast of
Chester and 35 miles from Liverpool. The county of Chesire is in the west of
England. Her father was a Church of England minister. Isabella suffered from
poor health – a possible mix of boredom and the lack of education and social
restrictions. I can imagine that!
Her father gave her 100
pounds sterling in 1854 to visit relatives in America, with the directions to
stay as long as the money lasted. The 23-year-old Isabella jumped at the
chance. To think she had to wear hoops, lived out of a trunk while traveling,
had to visit outhouses or worse, and keep the proprieties of the day -- I'm
ashamed to say I haven't accomplished one tenth of the traveling this 19th
century woman did!
Isabella wrote her first
book, The Englishwoman in America, about her adventures,
published in 1856 as a first-hand account of her shipboard journey from England
to Halifax, Canada, and then overland to Boston, Cincinnati and Chicago. The
Kindle edition is free, if you’re interested in reading bits like this:
“The path is a narrow, slippery ledge of
rock. I am blinded with spray, the darkening sheet of water is before me. Shall
I go on? The spray beats against my face, driven by the contending gusts of
wind which rush into the eyes, nostrils, and mouth, and almost prevent my
progress; the narrowing ledge is not more than a foot wide, and the boiling
gulf is seventy feet below. Yet thousands have pursued this way before, so why
should not I? I grasp tighter hold of the guide's hand, and proceed step by
step holding down my head. The water beats against me, the path narrows, and
will only hold my two feet abreast….”
Interesting,
first-person narration that proves she could write, in the flowery style of the
times. After her parents’ death, Isabella returned to the British Isles and
lived with her sister Henrietta in Scotland. She used her royalties to help
Scottish craftsmen to emigrate to America after writing numerous articles in
journals and magazines. But "poor health" soon descended again.
In 1872, Isabella took
off and toured Australia – which she disliked – before she traveled to Hawaii
(called the Sandwich Islands at the time). Clearly she preferred the latter,
since she wrote a second travelogue book, The Hawaiian Archipelago,
published in 1875. But before that, she returned to tour Canada and the United
States.
Colorado, in fact, in
1873. Isabella explored the Rocky Mountains (800 miles of it) while riding
“like a man” instead of sidesaddle. A Lady’s Life in the Rocky
Mountains is also free on Kindle, and includes her friendship with
“Rocky Mountain Jim.” She described Jim Nugent, a one-eyed “dear desperado” who
seemed to appreciate her independent spirit and returned her affection, as “a
man any woman might love but no sane woman would marry.” Smart woman! Within a
year after Isabella headed onward in her travels, Nugent was shot and killed.
Back home in Scotland,
she was courted by an Edinburgh physician, John Bishop, but decided her health
needed a tour of Asia instead – Japan, China, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia.
After her sister died of typhoid in 1880, a despondent Isabella decided to
marry John Bishop. That led her to become a nurse by studying medicine so that
she could travel as a missionary. At almost sixty, she toured mission stations
in India, Persia, Kurdistan and Turkey.
Isabella
Bird's many travelogue books of all her adventures led her to being named the
first woman “fellow” of the Royal Geographical Society in 1892, and also a
member of the Royal Photographic Society in 1897. She wasn’t done, though.
Isabella soon traveled to China and Korea, as well as Morocco. A few months
after her return to Edinburgh in 1904, she died at 72 with plans for another
trip to China.
A
formidable woman, indeed!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meg Mims is the
award-winning author of Double Crossing (WWA Spur Award - Best First Novel,
2012) and Double or Nothing, the sequel. She also writes contemporary romance
novellas. Meg loves westerns on film and TV despite her lack of enthusiasm for
riding a real horse -- a mutual feeling in the few instances they've attempted
to pair up. Meg prefers her sofa while watching cowboys at work. Less dust,
bugs and sunburn, too.
Meg is also one half of the team D.E.
Ireland, contracted for a cozy mystery series featuring G.B. Shaw's Professor
Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle - coming in 2014 from St. Martin's Press.
8 comments:
What and interesting woman! I downloaded the book and will definitely read it. Sounds like boy-toys weren't a recent invention. :)
I read that book and it was fascinating. Isabella was completely fearless!
I've read the book about her travels in the Rockies - really interesting stuff with a lot of historic information we Western writers can use. Thanks for a great blog!
I read the Englishwoman in America and didn't know about the others or the author. Thanks for sharing this amazing woman's story. Congratulations on your upcoming release as D E Ireland.
Great Post, Meg. Best of luck with your upcoming release. Remember, you promised to come back and be our guest on occasion.
Excellent. I'm going to have to get these books. Not only will it give her perspective of the life and times but in a vintage voice as well. Great research tool. Thanks so much for posting.
I stumbled over her book recently and thought, "Really?" Gosh, I am definitely gonna read her stuff. Thanks, all - and yes, I'll do a guest post once in a while, no problem! Thanks also on the new series for SMP. Can't wait to see that on the shelf. :-D
Isabella sounds like an amazing woman -- for any time period. I'll definitely grab her books. Thanks for sharing, Meg.
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