100 More Canadian Heroines

by Merna Forster

  Captain Barkley traded with Natives in both Nootka and Clayoquot sounds, obtaining about 800 sea-otter furs. Frances wrote favourably about her meetings with Chiefs Maquina and Callecum, and noted that the local climate seemed similar to that of Scotland. After spending about a month in Friendly Cove, the Barkleys sailed south along the coast; Captain Barkley named a very large sound after himself. Frances explained that, “several coves and bays and also islands in this sound were named. There was Frances Island — after myself: Hornby Peak — also after myself — Cape Beale after our purser.”[2]

  The Imperial Eagle then sailed into a large strait to the east, which Barkley named after Greek mariner Juan de Fuca who claimed to have discovered it. After six of the crew were killed on a nearby island — Barkley named it Destruction Island — the ship departed for Macao to sell the otter pelts. They loaded new cargo before the Imperial Eagle continued to Mauritius, where Frances gave birth to her first child, a son named William Andrew Hippolyte, in 1788. Barkley lost the ship when his investors backed out: the East India Company was displeased about the threat to their monopoly. He was forced to turn over his charts to a disreputable fellow called John Meares. Armed with Barkley’s information, Meares would later claim some of the discoveries as his own — a claim that Frances’s diary and other writings would refute.

  Frances and her husband and baby eventually headed back to England on an American ship, which was wrecked off the coast of Le Havre, France. Despite being deserted in the night by the captain and crew as the ship sank, the threesome were rescued. They arrived safely back in Portsmouth, England, on November 12, 1789.

  Two years after departing on the voyage, Frances Barkley was home and had circumnavigated the globe. While Jeanne Baret, a French woman disguised as a man, holds the distinction of being the first female to complete a circumnavigation,[3] young Frances was likely the first woman to accomplish the task without hiding her sex.

  The Barkleys spent about seven months in England before setting sail for India. Frances gave birth to her daughter, Martha (Patty), during a gale as they rounded the Cape of Good Hope. They arrived safely in Calcutta in August 1791. At the end of December 1791, the Barkleys sailed off to trade in Sitka Sound, Alaska, then headed to the Sandwich Islands, China, and Mauritius. During the voyage, Captain Barkley and Patty both became seriously ill. Captain Barkley miraculously survived, but little Patty died the day before her first birthday.

  On arriving in Mauritius, the Barkleys discovered it was occupied by the French (now at war with the British); their ship was confiscated and the captain and crew imprisoned. Eventually, the Barkleys returned to England after a journey of four and a half years. Frances Barkley was home by November 1794, where she remained for the rest of her life.

  Several relatives recounted the story of how Frances’s golden-red hair had saved the family from danger when hostile Natives believed she was a goddess. She was considered to be a courageous woman, absolutely devoted to her husband, as he was to her; his affectionate letters to Frances referred to her in terms such as “the best of women” and “my ever dear Love.”[4]

  And how is Frances Hornby Trevor Barkley remembered today? Trevor Channel was named as a tribute to her in 1931, and author Beth Hill published a biography after years of research. In England, Frances’s story was included in a publication called Somerset’s Forgotten Heroes.[5] In 2009, the University of Auckland, New Zealand, established the Frances Barkley Scholarship for Maori and Pacific students. The M.V. Frances Barkley, a Norwegian-built vessel now carrying passengers on the west coast of Vancouver Island, was named in honour of the courageous adventurer.

  Frances Barkley is a notable woman in Canadian history for being the first European woman to arrive in British Columbia, and recording important information about the Barkley’s voyages. While images of her father and husband have been preserved, no drawings or paintings have been found that show her face. We can only imagine a beautiful young woman, standing on deck below the billowing sails of the Imperial Eagle, a graceful figure with long golden-red hair blowing in the wind.

  Quote:

  “… I made up my mind to brave every danger rather than separate, thereby at any rate securing his [Captain Barkley’s] peace of Mind, as well as my own; but we both imbarked with heavy hearts, two Infants to share all risks, the Youngest at the breast. She, poor little creature, became the Victim of our folly.”[6]

  — Frances reflecting on the decision to accompany her husband on a sea voyage from Calcutta, 1791.

  Robertine Barry.

  Types of Canadian Women, 1903

  A Feminist Rebel

  Robertine Barry

  1863–1910

  The first woman in Quebec to earn her living as a journalist, she battled for women’s rights despite being publicly insulted by both sexes for her radical ideas.

  It’s a good thing that Robertine Barry didn’t give up easily: it took nine long years before an editor accepted any of her articles. One editor had offered to print a story years earlier — on the condition that her name be excluded — but the aspiring journalist refused. Her perseverence eventually earned her acclaim as a great writer; she was compared favourably with the likes of Balzac, George Sand, Guy de Maupassant, and Henry James.[1]

  From the time Robertine was a child, writing was her passion. Born in L’Île-Verte, Quebec, she was fortunate to come from a privileged family. Her mother, Aglaé Rouleau, once created a stir in church by daring to wear a dress with a crinoline; she was denied communion. Robertine’s father, John Edmond Barry, a well-educated Irishman, became prominent in the Saguenay region and held administrative positions ranging from mayor to vice-consul of Sweden and Norway.

  Robertine grew up in a bustling household with a dozen siblings and a wealth of books and music. Unlike many children at the time, she received the best education available despite frequent visits to the Mother Superior for bad behaviour. Robertine loved to learn but felt stifled in the strict convent schools she attended in Trois-Pistoles and Quebec City. By the time she graduated at age twenty, the young woman was thrilled to regain her freedom.

  Though she was expected to marry and have children, the fiercely independent and strong-willed Robertine had other ideas: “I am not among those who consider marriage as the goal to which must be devoted a lifetime of noble efforts.”[2] She dreamed of becoming a full-time journalist; inspired by the success of French journalist Séverine, Robertine began submitting articles to newspapers. She viewed journalism as a noble profession whose purpose was to encourage discussions of social issues and important events. She was eager to express her opinions and influence society.

  After approaching Honoré Beaugrand, editor of the influential radical Montreal newspaper La Patrie, Robertine finally got the opportunity she’d dreamed of. On April 30, 1891, the paper published her provocative article about the importance of education for young women — on the front page of the paper. She suggested that radical reforms were necessary, and that schooling should be removed from the Catholic Church’s control. Writing under her pen name Françoise, Robertine showed remarkable courage as her first major piece challenged the majority of Quebec’s population (including the powerful clergy, ultramontanes, and anti-feminists). Henri Bourasssa, a politician and the founder of Le Devoir, shared the common belief that women should stay quietly in the home; he called Robertine a monster for living her life in the public eye.[3]

  La Patrie published four of Françoise’s articles about women’s education. From the fall of 1890 until 1900, she was a regular staff member at the paper, writing a weekly column called “Chronique du lundi.” She also introduced women’s pages in Quebec through Le Journal de Françoise, the bimonthly magazine she founded in 1902 and published until 1909. The review included literary works, allowing her to showcase her friends’ writing, including Laure Conan and the talented, but tormented, poet Émile Nelligan (whose relationship with Robertine inspired several of his poems). Robertine published two books
— a collection of short stories and her collected weekly columns — while also writing for a variety of publications in Montreal. She was one of the founders of the Women’s Press Club of Canada, and served as president.

  Robertine became an accomplished professional writer, publisher, journalist, and an excellent lecturer. A vocal and influential feminist, she championed women’s rights and promoted access to education and the establishment of libraries. She viewed employment for single and married women as the key to emancipation. She inspired other women by setting an example as a single, independent career woman who spoke her mind on important issues, travelled internationally by herself (which was considered quite scandalous), and dared to do things like go underground in a mine or jump into the Lachine Rapids.

  The Canadian government appointed Robertine Barry (along with Josephine Dandurand) to represent Canada at the 1900 Paris International Exhibition, for which she also contributed to a publication about women in Canada and participated in the International Women’s Congress. In 1904, the government of France honoured Robertine by naming her officier d’académie. Robertine represented Canada at the Universal Exposition in Milan in 1906. In 1910, Quebec Premier Sir Lomer Goulin named her inspector of women’s working conditions in industry, but she died suddenly a few months later of a stroke. She was forty-seven.

  Quebec’s unofficial poet laureate, Louis Fréchette, considered Robertine to be the most remarkable woman in Canada.[4] Though a journalism prize, a street in Montreal, and a township in Abitibi, Quebec, bear her name, biographer Sergine Desjardins suggests that few people remember this pioneer journalist, and those who do underestimate her role as an important Canadian feminist in the nineteenth century.[5]

  Quote:

  “I dream … of chairs of universities occupied by women.”[6]

  Painting of Abigail Becker with her gold medal, based on a daguerreotype.

  Collection of the Eva Brook Donly Museum & Archives, Norfolk Historical Society (Artist W. Edgar Cantelon)

  The Heroine of Long Point

  Abigail Becker

  1830–1905

  Unable to swim, she plunged into Lake Erie to save the crew of the schooner Conductor.

  Abigail Becker was once more famous that Laura Secord.[1] When she died in 1905, even the New York Times noted the passing of this woman, “famed in song and story throughout Canada.”[2]

  On November 24, 1854, a vicious storm blew in on Lake Erie, bringing snow and raging winds. The three-masted schooner Conductor, bound for the Welland Canal with a heavy load of grain, sought shelter at Long Point, a narrow peninsula known for its shifting sandbars and dangerous currents. The vessel foundered on a sandbar and most of it was quickly submerged. Throughout the night Captain Hackett, his six sailors, and the cook clung to the frozen rigging.

  Abigail Becker lived in poverty in a shanty on Long Point, with her husband Jeremiah and their many children; he already had five when Abigail Jackson wed him at seventeen, and she bore eight more during their marriage. The storm was still raging in the morning when twenty-four-year-old Abigail went to fetch some water. The young mother and two of her sons set about rescuing the drowning men. The three gathered driftwood and set a fire on the beach.

  She was said to be six feet tall, a strong and powerful woman; she would need every ounce of that strength for the ordeal ahead. As she had no boat to reach the ship, the courageous Abigail dashed into the crashing waves and waded toward it with outstretched arms, trying to encourage the men to risk swimming to shore. She waded deeper and deeper, risking her own life as she plunged into the icy waters up to her shoulders. Captain Hackett was the first to leap into the lake.

  Hackett got caught in an undertow, so Abigail Becker struggled farther out to grab him. She pulled the drowning man to shore, where he huddled by the warmth of the bonfire with hot tea. Then she coaxed the second mate to swim through the storm, and again she dragged him to safety. An exhausted but determined Abigail rescued the remaining sailors in the same fashion, but the cook (who couldn’t swim) remained lashed to the rigging until the following day, when he, too, made it to shore thanks to her help and a raft built by the other men.

  Abigail was credited with single-handedly saving the lives of the eight men, and news of her heroism spread. Sailors and merchants from Buffalo, New York, presented her with a purse of money. The New York Lifesaving Benevolent Association presented her with a gold medal, which she wore proudly for special occasions. Abigail was particularly pleased with the congratulatory letter she received from Queen Victoria, along with £50. Governor General Lord Aberdeen also sent her a letter, and the Royal Humane Society gave her a bronze medal.

  With the money she’d received, Abigail purchased fifty acres north of Port Rowan, settling there with her husband and children. After he froze to death during a hunting trip, she struggled to support her family on the farm. She later married Henry Rohrer. During her lifetime, she raised a total of seventeen children.

  Abigail also saved a boy who had fallen into a well and assisted six other shipwrecked sailors. Some called her “The Heroine of Lake Erie,” others “The Angel of Long Point.” They praised the “unparalleled exploit of good, strong-bodied, simple-minded, warm-hearted Abigail Becker.”[3] Tributes included a lengthy poem written by Miss Amanda T. Jones (published in 1885),[4] which was included in the Ontario High School Reader,[5] as well as an article in Atlantic Monthly.[6]

  Portrait of Abigail Becker, taken at the G.P. Perry Studio in Simcoe.

  Types of Canadian Women, 1903

  In 1958, an Ontario provincial government plaque commemorating Abigail’s heroism was erected in Port Rowan. In 1992, the folk band Tanglefoot recorded a song called “The Angel of Long Point.” Though the story of Abigail Becker is no longer widely known, the Abigail Becker Conservation Area remains.

  Quote:

  “I don’t know as I did more ’n I’d ought to, nor more’n I’d do again.”[7]

  — Abigail Becker talking to a Captain Dorr soon after the rescue.

  Margret Benedictsson.

  Courtesy of Norma Thomasson

  The Power of Freyja

  Margret Benedictsson

  1866–1956

  This Icelandic feminist fought to get the vote for women in Manitoba. And created the country’s major suffrage journal — named after a Norse goddess.

  Born on a peasant farm in the Víður valley of northern Iceland in 1866, Margret Jonsdottir had a lonely childhood. She was the daughter of harness-maker Jon Jonsson and Kristjana Ebeneserdottir, the servant who cared for his elderly, leprosy-afflicted wife Margret. Enraged at the birth of the baby, the ailing woman was placated only when the newborn was named after her and Kristjana was sent away. The child received no affection after her mother left, remembering only that someone once patted her hand.[1]

  Following the death of her father, Margret was alone. At thirteen, she became a shepherdess in the mountains of Iceland. She grew up accustomed to equal rights for women and was inspired by reading about patriot Jon Sigurdsson’s fight for Icelandic independence. Knowing that, as a peasant, she would find few opportunities for advancement in her homeland, Margret borrowed money to emigrate to an Icelandic settlement in the Dakota Territory in 1887. Penniless, the twenty-one-year-old couldn’t speak a word of English.

  She worked as a domestic servant to pay off her loan, as well as high-school education and two years of study at Bathgate College. Around 1890, she packed her bags and headed north to Winnipeg to join other Icelanders.

  Margret took a business course so she could support herself by doing typing and bookkeeping. When the young woman arrived in Manitoba, women didn’t have the right to vote in provincial or federal elections. The Elections Act lumped together all second-class citizens denied the right to vote in a clause stating “no woman, idiot, lunatic, or criminal shall vote.” Margret fought for Canadian women to have equal rights to men in politics as well as all other spheres of their lives. By 1893, she was lect
uring about women’s rights to Icelanders in Winnipeg.

  While other Manitoba suffragists were already actively campaigning for the vote, many Icelanders were insulted that English-speaking women hadn’t tried to involve foreigners, such as themselves. That didn’t stop Margret from getting into the act. After she married Sigfus Benedictsson, the couple founded Freyja. It would become Canada’s most important women’s suffrage newspaper, as well as one of the few Icelandic literary journals in North America.[2] With Margret as editor, the couple published the influential paper from 1898 to 1910. The name of the publication means woman or goddess, from the name of a Norse goddess responsible for love, fertility, battle, and death.

  Margret noted the primary objective of the paper: “At the top of the agenda will be progress in the women’s rights movement. It will support abstinence and all that is good and pure.”[3] The Benedictssons published monthly issues of Freyja in Icelandic, comprised of an average of forty pages with information about the struggle for women’s rights, as well as stories, poems, literary reviews, profiles of notable people, and material for children. Margret wrote much of the content and included her translations of the writings of American and European suffrage leaders. Icelanders were generally sympathetic to equal rights for women, and the publication had a large circulation.