It’s an absolute privilege to have a guest post on World for a Girl by the author Debbie Patterson. Debbie is the writer behind the British Library’s children’s book Great Voyages: daring adventurers from James Cook to Gertrude Bell.
I asked Debbie about the fearless female explorers that she featured in her book and in response, she wrote this wonderful piece on why she chose to write about these intrepid women and what she took away from her in-depth research.
Great Voyages: daring adventurers from James Cook to Gertrude Bell
February 2016. I was sitting in my friend’s house in Nairobi and scrolling through my emails when I saw one from my British Library editor. He was asking if I would be interested in writing a children’s non-fiction book about great explorers. It didn’t take me more than a second to reply, yes!
I was so excited about this project. I’d been a keen traveller for many years, and on this trip to Kenya was excited to be taking my young children (they were 5 and 3 at the time) to somewhere a bit different from their usual trips to France. I couldn’t wait to get started.
Deborah’s son Arthur in Nairobi. Photo Credit: Deborah Patterson
Back home in England, I had a meeting with my editor and picture researcher to start to piece together a content plan, but then the book had to go on the backburner while other projects were finished. It wasn’t until September 2016 and the start of a new school year that I was able to give this new project the focus it deserved.
I was given a list of explorers and their journeys to work from, and as I started to research them I began to spot connections and common themes including questions which needed to be answered such as ‘how did they find their way?’ and ‘what did they eat?’ (both penguins and tortoises featured on the menu).
Presenting a balanced view
Another common theme I found in the explorers on my list was their gender and race. It looked like my book might only be was about white men travelling the world, claiming the spoils for their European bosses.
In all honesty, before I started on this book, I would have struggled to name any great female explorers. Happily, that’s now changed and I’m proud to bring the names of the fearless females I grew to know to a wider audience.
A pioneering woman: Maria Sibylla Merian
The first female featured in Great Voyages is the pioneering Maria Sibylla Merian. A botanical artist and entomological illustrator (she drew plants, flower and insects), she wanted to draw exotic caterpillars and butterflies alive in their natural setting rather than simply studying dead specimens brought back to Holland, where she lived, by Dutch travellers.
Photo Credit: The British Library. Published with permission of author Deborah Patterson.
In 1699, when she was 52 years old, Maria set sail for the Dutch colony of Suriname, on the north-east coast of South America. She lived and travelled there for three years along with her daughter, Dorothea Maria.
On her return to Holland, she published a book of her drawings and observations called Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium (The Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname).
Not only was Maria a pioneering traveller for her time, but she was also an inspirational scientist.
Appearances can be deceptive: Jeanne Baret
In 1766 Jeanne Baret, a French plant expert, wanted to work on board an explorer’s ship but women travelling in this way were still frowned upon.
Jeanne Baret c. The British Library Board
She and the ship’s botanist, Philibert Commerçon, came up with an ingenious plan – she should disguise herself as a boy. Baret managed to keep her secret for many years, wrapping her body in bandages to give herself a more manly shape.
It wasn’t until the ship docked at the island of Tahiti that Baret’s cover was blown. A local saw straight through her disguise and commented to the captain how unusual it was to see a woman on board. The captain was embarrassed and very cross!
When Baret arrived back in France she became the first woman to have circumnavigated the globe.
Blazing a trail: Mary Kingsley
Mary Kingsley made two trail-blazing trips to West Africa, in 1893 and 1894. On her first trip, she explored the coast, from Sierra Leone to Angola.
Mary Kingsley. Photo Credit: The British Library Board
On her second trip, her aim was to meet the notoriously fierce Fang tribe which would mean travelling up the Ogooué River in Gabon by canoe.
Kingsley wore her usual style of dress when she travelled. For a Victorian lady that meant petticoats, stiff skirts and a corset. Though it must have been an incredibly uncomfortable and restrictive outfit to travel in, it is said that her thick woollen clothes and many petticoats once saved her from being impaled by the spikes of a hidden mantrap!
The desert queen: Gertrude Bell
Scholar, traveller, archaeologist, mountaineer, diplomat – Gertrude Bell was all of these things.
Bell loved to travel for its own sake – and particularly enjoyed journeying around Arabia – but many of her trips focused on her passion for archaeology. In Syria, Turkey and Mesopotamia she excavated medieval and Roman ruins.
Gertrude Bell book page photo credit: The British Library Board with author’s permission
One of Bell’s greatest challenges was a desert trek she undertook between December 1913 and April 1914. She left the city of Damascus in Syria with the aim of visiting Hail, a city which no European had visited by 20 years as it was considered unsafe. She faced hostility from local desert tribes and one of the most dangerous environments on earth, a desert where the sun beat down relentlessly, sandstorms could whip up at a moment’s notice and she risked not being able to find water for days.
I hope that the stories told in Great Voyages will inspire future adventurers, boys and girls, to explore more every day.
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If you wish to find out more about the explorers mentioned here, alongside many others, you can buy this book at:
- The British Library Shop
- Your local independent bookshop (I’m proud to have Hungerford Books as my local)
- Your local chain bookshop, for example, Waterstones
- Amazon
Please do leave a review if you buy the book. It really does make a difference.
Happy reading and happy adventuring!
The Author: Deborah Patterson
Deborah Patterson and family. Photo Credit: Deborah Patterson
Deborah Patterson is an author and editor of non-fiction books. She mostly keeps busy by project editing guidebooks for the National Trust but also writes a blog about her family’s adventures at www.grandadventurestory.com.
Inspired by the explorers Deborah has written about she and her family will be embarking on a six-month long adventure, travelling from Alaska to Argentina, in July 2020. Follow along on Instagram (@mrsdebspatters), Twitter (@mrsdebspatters) and Facebook (@grandadventurestory).
Explore related posts on World for a Girl about inspirational female travellers:
Fearless, Fierce and Female: The she-pirates who ruled the waves
54 Female Explorers from History that Your Children NEED to learn about
Female Explorers of the Logo: Who are they?
Women with Capes: 10 Inspirational Solo Female Adventurers
If you’ve enjoyed Debbie’s article on fearless female explorers then you will love our Girls Explore Too! activity pack – click on the image below to sign-up and download a printable copy.
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