The Life of Isabella Bird

Isabella Bird (1831–1904) was one of the most famous Victorian female explorers, and the first woman member of the Royal Geographical Society. Bird was recommended an open-air life from an early age as a cure for physical and nervous complaints. She toured the United States and Canada, Australasia and the Far East before her marriage to Dr John Bishop in 1881. After his death in 1886 she decided to become a missionary, and travelled to India and little-known parts of the Middle East. She th...