Isobel gunn biography of rory

 

Isobel Gunn (sometimes also called Isabel) lived from 1 August 1781 to 7 November 1861.

She enrolled as a man in the Hudson's Bay Company and was the first European woman to reach western Canada. The wider picture in Scotland at the time is set out in our Historical Timeline.

Isobel was born Isobel Fubister (or Fubbister) at Tankerness, east of Kirkwall in Orkney.

Her story ends as you might expect when she gave birth to a son and was repatriated to Orkney where she lived until her death at the age of

I first entered the world of trad when I was around 16 years old after starting lessons in Shetland with Violet Tulloch.

Isobel Gunn was born in Tankerness in In she used her father's clothes and disguised herself as a man in order to sign up for the Hudson's Bay.

Isabella was born in June of , which would make her 28 years old this year, and from Aurora, Colorado.

ABOUT THIS TRACK.

In 1806 at the age of 15 she followed her brother (and many other young males in Orkney at the time) by joining the Hudson's Bay Company. According to some versions of the story, she was also following her lover, John Scarth.

The Hudson's Bay Company did not employ European women at the time: she evaded this restriction by using her father's name, John Fubister, and dressing as a man. She then sailed with the company to Hudson Bay on board the Prince of Wales.

In Canada, Islobel worked as a labourer at Fort Albany.