Rose Fortune

Watercolour painting of Rose Fortune. While the artist and date are unknown, this image closely matches a 1914 description of Rose and is preserved the the Nova Scotia Archives.

Trailblazer of Annapolis Royal

Rose Fortune (c.1774 – 1867) was a remarkable figure in Nova Scotia’s early history – a respected businesswoman, a familiar presence on the docks of Annapolis Royal, and a pioneering Black Loyalist whose quiet strength left a lasting impression on generations to come.

Likely born to free parents, Rose was a child when she arrived in Nova Scotia in about 1784 as part of the Black Loyalist migration after the American War of Independence. Her family name is not recorded in the ‘Book of Negroes’, which lists the Black loyalists who sailed from New York to Nova Scotia at the end of the American Revolution in 1783 but they are mentioned on a muster roll of discharged officers, disbanded soldiers and loyalists in Annapolis County in 1784.

Her family settled in Annapolis Royal where they would certainly have endured hard times. Black Loyalists encountered unfair and unequal treatment. They were given much smaller plots of land and fewer provisions than white settlers. They were also paid much lower wages than white labourers for the same work. Despite the promises of freedom and equality, discrimination was the daily reality.

As an adult, Rose started a baggage-carting business along the waterfront for travellers on the Saint John–Digby–Annapolis ferry, toting goods and luggage in a wheelbarrow. Always the entrepreneur, she also offered what could be considered the first wake-up service. Many relied on her to waken them in the morning so they wouldn’t miss the ferry. Even though she was a woman and Black, the waterfront was her domain and she appears to have been well respected and listened to. Because of the respect she garnered, she was able to keep law and order and she has often been called Canada’s first female police officer.

She frequently wore men’s outer clothing. While she was criticized for this, it was for pretty practical motives. Men’s coats were warmer and had deep pockets. The wharves of Annapolis Royal were very cold in the winter and she just needed to keep warm.

There is no record of her being married but there are records of three children and her descendants still live in the area.

Her death, at the age of 90, is recorded in St. Luke’s Church in Annapolis Royal. She died on February 20, 1867.

Rose remains one the most notable and interesting characters of Nova Scotia. She was named a National Historic Person in 2018.

Image Source:

‘Rose Fortune (ca. 1774 – 1864)’. In Nova Scotia Archives African Nova Scotians in the Age of Slavery and Abolition. https://archives.novascotia.ca/africanns/archives/?ID=30

References:

Thompson, Brenda J. (2003). “FORTUNE, ROSE,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 9, University of Toronto/Université Laval https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/fortune_rose_9E.html