The Remarkable World of Frances Barkley, 1769–1845

Ann Turner is the financial and budget manager of the University of
British Columbia Library.

Frances Barkley herself was a remarkable woman. In 1786, at the age of
17, she married Charles William Barkley, captain of an English merchant
trading vessel. Then, most unusual for the times, she joined him on his
ship and they spent the next eight years sailing the trade routes of the
world together. They visited North and South America, India, China,
Russia, and Alaska, trading in furs and other goods.

Frances was the first European woman to set foot on the west coast of
Vancouver Island. She kept a diary of her travels and late in life began
writing her reminiscences of the voyages, working from the record in her
diary. The diary itself has since disappeared under mysterious
circumstances, but the reminiscences have been published, first with
background information researched in family papers and ships’ logs by
Beth Hill, and now, 25 years later, in a second edition with further
research by Cathy Converse.

Frances was an observant, intelligent, and articulate young woman. Her
record of the lands and societies they visited, life at sea, and the
political and economic climate in which they conducted their trading
ventures forms a most rare and valuable first-hand account of a time
when international commerce was redrawing the map of the known world.
This edition includes an index of names, bibliographies of unpublished
and published sources, and reproductions of photographs and other
illustrations.