The Remarkable World of Frances Barkley: 1769-1845

by Cathy Converse, Beth Hill, Frances Barkley

Book Overview

Frances Barkley was just eighteen when she became the first European woman to set foot on the west coast of North America. After a sheltered upbringing in England, Frances found herself boarding the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1894898788
• ISBN13: 9781894898782
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Touchwood Editions
• Length: 207 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

The Remarkable World of Frances Barkley: 1769-1845

Trully fascinating ! How rich and dominant they became by discoverind the long distance trade benefits ! The world changed definitively for the next three hundred years due to these incredible overseas wanderers ! Are we able to-day to restart these adventures ? I guess not ! And some other civilizations will raise, against us and our comfort.

An intriguing tale

Frances Barkley was only 18 years old when she visited the coast of British Columbia in 1787. She was the newlywed wife of Charles Barkley, captain of the ship _Imperial Eagle_, when she accompanied him on his fur-trading voyage. She may also have been the first woman to circumnavigate the world. In 1792, Capt. and Mrs. Barkley sailed to North America again, travelling down the Alaska panhandle and trading for sea-otter furs. This book is well-titled; although it does rely on memoirs penned by Frances Barkley, the authors have done much work to fill in the missing pieces of the story. And it is a fascinating one, involving the rediscovery of the strait of Juan de Fuca (despite Captain Cook's insistence that it wasn't there); the Machiavellian maneuverings to attempt to avoid the monopoly of the East India Company on the coastal fur trade; the role of women in shipboard life; and early visits to Macao, India, Hawaii and Indochina. Although this book definitely left me, like the authors, wishing that more of Frances Barkley's writing could be found, it was definitely an interesting and intriguing introduction to the maritime fur trade and the life of Frances Barkley.