Mallory Novicoff has written an essay, which you can read here, about the life of Frances Simpson (1812-53), one of the first British women to travel across Canada in a canoe.
When she was a child Frances Simpson’s father lost his estate, and control of the people he enslaved, in British Guiana, so Frances grew up in a modest situation. Despite this, she was able to gain knowledge of botany, which would later be reflected in her diary. She married her cousin, George Simpson, a high ranking official in the Hudson’s Bay Company who was already in an unofficial partnership with a “country wife,” a Métis woman named Margaret Taylor. Frances’ diary documents her journey from Britain to Canada, as well as her expeditions in Canada. It provides valuable insights into the social history of early Canada, detailing the challenges of the journey and showcasing the reliance on Indigenous guides and voyageurs.
Hidden Hands in Colonial Natural Histories 