Rose Fortune

Rose Fortune was born in 1774 in Philadelphia, the daughter of two people who had been enslaved. During the American Revolution her family became part of the roughly 3,000 Black Loyalists who sailed from New York to Nova Scotia in 1783, and when she was 10 they settled in Annapolis Royal, in the Annapolis Valley, a popular destination for Black Loyalists.

Life was difficult for Black Loyalists, who had been promised freedom and land but often found earning a living hard. Little is known about Fortune's early years in Canada, but as an adult she started a business at a time when neither women nor Black people were encouraged to pursue entrepreneurship. She began carrying travellers' luggage from the Annapolis Royal wharves to local homes and hotels with a borrowed wheelbarrow.

She was known for her vigorous protection of her clients' property, and she also helped travellers find lodging and make their connections. The business prospered, and the wheelbarrow gave way to a horse and wagon. By 1841 it was known as Lewis Transfer, and it was passed on to her grandson-in-law, Albert Lewis, who ran it as the Lewis Transfer Company until 1980.

Fortune also took on the job of keeping order on the waterfront. She imposed and enforced curfews at the wharves and the surrounding area, and had a reputation for keeping unruly youngsters in line. Dressed in layers of women's and men's clothing and armed with a stick, she was, in the words of one writer, a small but sturdy woman who established principles for behaviour on the wharves and in the town, and brooked no arguments.

Many consider Fortune the first policewoman in Canada. She worked into her seventies and died in 1864 at the age of about 90. In January 2018 she was named a National Historic Person, and a plaque honouring her was unveiled on the Annapolis Royal waterfront where she worked almost two centuries ago. A Bay of Fundy ferry is named in her honour.